Emma Jackson's Hidden Truth
by Troplet
Summary: It all began with Nancy Bobofit and her stupid obsession with throwing food. Apparently that required corporal punishment by some sort of demonic monster that ended up getting slashed by a ball point pen. Emma thought she had gone crazy, even her brother Percy was concerned for her mental health. Much to Nancy's pleasure, their mom sends them off to camp Half-blood.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series. _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ is not my intellectual property, it is Rick Riordan's. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. The only original characters are Emma and Jasmine and some more may pop up as the story continues.

Hi there. I decided to write my life story because, well, why not?

A fair warning, it is not all that pretty. I never asked for this life. I did not stay up in the middle of the night and wish for this lifestyle change. In the grand scheme of things you are born into your life plan. Sure, nurture beats nature in most things but nature played a sick game of cards too.

That warning? Here it is; Your parents told you all about Santa Claus and you felt that _joy_ every year, even after you found out they made up a superior man with no tolerance for naughty children. You grew up with it, you became accustomed to it. You felt that damn _joy_.

It was a good lie. Sometimes lies are kinder than the truth.

The hidden truth was not kind to me. Still was not. It is scary and unpredictable. It holds adventure at every corner. I'm a second away from certain death most days, often life scraped by because of _sheer dumb luck._

Again. Not kind. So, if you find yourself relating to this story of mine maybe little _too_ much? Back away. Burn the book. Hide. The moment the full extent of the hidden truth is revealed to you, others become aware. Too aware. Be ready for to be hunted, because man, you are not the top of the food chain as you were led to believe.

Scared yet? If not, then great! Experience the true risky and vulnerable life of a semi-human through ratty old pages. Enjoy a hot chocolate. Grab a blanket. Get comfortable because this story, it is a long one.

My name? Emma Jackson, at your service.

I'm fifteen years old and until a few months ago I attended a boarding school called Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in up-state New York with my brother, Percy.

Yes. You read that correctly. _Troubled kids_. Not disturbed, although some are. Am I troubled? A little bit, yeah. Is Percy? Most definitely.

I'm sure as hell not a Mary-Sue. This is my life story. I'm not a seemingly perfect fictional character so get that out of your head right now and you won't be sorely disappointed.

Got it? Okay. Moving on.

I could tell you all about my nightmare of a life. You could play sad music in the background and weep or cringe at the cliché dark past story. But, I figure things only got painfully bad when our school went on a school trip to Manhattan.

I guess you could say it was the start of the dismantling of the hidden truth.

Our small class of thirty and two teachers took a trip to Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were to look at ancient Greek and Roman history. It sounded interesting enough at the time, anything that appeared supernatural really intrigued me, but all of us cramped in a yellow bus for ages? It sounded like _such_ fun.

Okay. Nah. Torture, morelike. Most Yancy field trips were, because of a certain red head. Let's not jump ahead though.

Mr. Brunner the Latin teacher joined us on the trip. Honestly, I expected it to be less agonising because of this very reason.

On the way into the city, Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded girl threw pieces of her peanut-butter and ketchup sandwich at the back of a new friend of mine's head, Grover.

Her friends laughed. But, there were people who looked at her with a weird glint in their eye, they did not so much pass judgement on Grover but on Nancy and her actions. Yet, they sat and did nothing. That was almost as bad.

Grover, he was an easy target. He was scrawny and quiet. When he became angry no one could tell because of the waterworks. If being a new kid was not enough of a reason to pick on him, the fact that he was crippled was. Something about a muscular disease. We did not speak of it much, to be honest. He tensed up when it was mentioned. I learned to let it go.

I clenched my jaw as Nancy managed to get yet another piece of sandwich thrownat Grover. It landed in his curly hair. She passed it along for another kid to do the honours.

She smirked at my glowering because she knew damn well I could not do a thing about it. Percy was on his final warning with the headmaster. Mom did not need yet another letter.

Besides, I'd be damned if I returned home to mom and told her the reason I got expelled was because of some 'peanut-butter incident'.

"I can't wait for this trip to be over," I mumbled, earning a strange look from Grover. So I explained, "I might not be able to do anything in school to her, but after..."

"It's fair game," the boy to our left finished for me.

"You've been looking forward to it for ages now. Just ignore them and..." Grover placed a hand on my arm. "No. You're not going to do anything. I mean, I like peanut-butter. If anything, this is the best trip I've been on, ever."

An open sandwich smacked right into Grover's face. The peanut-butter made the bread stick to his face. Red blotches of sauce splayed on his shirt.

"Best trip ever," I mocked under my breath. "Yeah, right."

The boy to the seat left of us made to get up. "That's it!" he growled.

Grover reached across the aisle and pulled him back down. "You're playing right into her hands," he told him with a shake of his head. "She's not the one on probation. She's not the one that will be blamed if anything happens. You are, Percy."

"I know." He sat back down, slumping back into the chair. "I know she's a girl. _I know that_. But I still really want to punch that smug look off of her face," he said through gritted teeth.

Grover looked panicked. "What? No! Percy! You can't!"

"Relax," Percy said quickly, noticing his friend's distress. "Like you said, I'm on my final warning. _Blah. Blah. Blah_." He rolled his eyes then his eyes gleamed. "Guess who isn't though?"

I nodded my confirmation, getting a grin from Percy. I then frowned, studying Nancy. "I swear she gains a freckle with every soul she taints."

"Well that's a theory." Grover licked his lips, gathering a blob into his mouth with a satisfied grin then his face dropped. "You can't punch that girl, Emma."

"It's not a theory," I said, casting the girl a cold smile. "It's the truth of the matter. If she does anything else I deem worthy of a punch, then well, who knows what will happen?"

"Oh come on. One field trip without you two causing world war three. Want to give that a shot?" Grover asked with a timid smile. "No unplanned swimming adventures or shooting canons into the buses. What do you say?"

"That was all Emma," Percy interjected.

"Not it wasn't," I denied. "You told me the canon didn't work. _The instructor said it's just a prop_." I mimicked him. "That was your fault."

He tried hard not to smirk. "Did _I_ bomb the bus?"

"Who's on their final warning?" I asked him. He rolled his eyes at me. Grover looked at me expectantly. I rubbed my chin, pretending to contemplate his words. "We'll see."

He frowned. "That's not a yes."

"It's not a no either." I grinned.

"It's a maybe?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Sure. A maybe."

Honestly, if I had gone through with punching Nancy out, my story would have been so much different. Our story. Kicked out of the school and onto yet another. Yancy Academy, just another one of many failures.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour and I did not want to get on his bad side. We walked along the aisles, following the wheelchair bound teacher past statues and other old stuff that I'm sure was interesting in its own right.

My classmates laughed and pointed out things they found weird. Mr. Brunner smiled, not really annoyed. With a look at him, you would not expect him to be so lenient, even cool in the eyes of some. His hair thinned and he wore these tweed jackets, reminding me of Indiana Jones for some odd reason.

He told stories, mystical ones. Stories told in such vivid detail that I swear he could have been at the scene itself. He became especially vibrant when he brought out the Roman armour and weapons he collected. He made stuff that I normally would have found boring, interesting.

We gathered around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a 'sphinx' on top. His spoke of the carvings. He spoke _passionately_. Well, I guessed. I could not hear a thing he said because of the constant whispering.

"Can you give it a rest already," I said, nudging Nancy right in the ribs.

Nancy clutched her side for a second before placing her hands on her hips. "Can you stop breathing already?" Then with a taunting smile she finished with, "Dyke."

I could not help it. My elbow had a mind of its own and whacked into her uncovered ribs again.

She gasped out a, "Mrs. Dodds!"

Of course the fifty year old leather wearing woman glared daggers at me, reminding me when she rode up to school on her first day on her roaring motorcycle and with her dead eyes made everyone shrink back in fear. Those eyes could not seem to drag themselves away from mine.

I could never stand down from a stare off.

And _of course_ Nancy and Mrs. Dodds got on splendidly. They both had an opinion in common. That I was the spawn of satan himself.

"Emma, stop looking at her like that. It's making her crazy," Grover whispered, nodding his head in Mrs. Dodds direction. I continued to scowl. "Stop it."

I shoved him away. "You stop it."

"Guys..." Percy warned.

She crooked a finger at us, beckoning us to the side away from everyone else. "Now, honey," she said lightly, placing a hand on my collar. To others it looked like she fixed it. Reality? She coiled it tightly. "You best be quiet. You don't want to ruin it for everyone else, do you?"

My nostrils flared as I tried to keep my temper in check. Her lips were curled up into a purple sneering mess and her laboured breathing made me extremely uncomfortable.

I suddenly had the urge to wallop her.

"Of course we'll be quiet, miss." Grover pushed me away before I did or said something I would regret. "We're sorry for interrupting."

Once out of her hearing range I let out a heavy breath. "She is _so_ not human."

Grover looked at me, real serious and said, "You're absolutely right."

"Now look who's talking," Nancy hissed, halting her snickering at the naked guy on the stele.

I heaved a sigh. "Seriously. Will you _shut up_?"

Obviously I had intended for it to be a harsh whisper of some sort. However, it came out much louder that I expected. Nancy's face reddened and the whole group glanced at us and laughed, making Mr. Brunner stop talking of his story.

Percy grinned to my side, glad he was not the one caught this time. "Someone's in trouble."

"Ms. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, rather calmly. He glanced between Grover, Nancy and I before he continued, "do you have a comment you wish to share?"

I pursed my lips, knowing full well he saw that Nancy spoke first. "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner frowned, clearly displeased. He pointed to a singular picture on the stele. "Perhaps you can tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the carving and held back a victorious smile. "Kronos, he was the youngest of the first generation of Titans. He's eating his children."

"Yes," Mr. Bruner said, pausing for a second. "He did this because?"

"Well he overthrew his own father in the... Golden age?" I asked, Mr. Brunner nodded for me to continue. "Well he knows familial ties doesn't mean squat compared to power. He didn't trust his own kids, the gods. His wife hid Zeus and Kronos ate a rock in his place. Zeus tricked Kronos into vomiting up his siblings."

"And we think the Kardashians are the family to watch," Percy mumbled to my right. "This is proper family drama, _right here_."

I flashed Percy a smile and tried not to get sidetracked. "So basically history repeated itself. Children overtook their father's rule."

People still laughed, not getting over the vomiting fiasco. Especially Percy, his face grew purple because of his lack of breathing.

Nancy shoved her shoulder into me as she turned to talk to a friend. "Our parents ground us. Oh! I know how to solve the problem. I'll pledge a war." She scoffed. "How is any of this useful for us to know?"

"And why, Ms. Jackson," Mr. Brunner addressed me once more, "to paraphrase Ms. Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Well she got called out, huh?" Grover muttered with an impish grin.

"Shut up, weirdo," Nancy hissed, her face matched her hair. "At least I have friends to speak to."

Percy snickered. "Why did the tomato blush?" he asked, glancing between Nancy and Grover. When all Nancy did was sneer, he continued, "because she saw the salad dressing."

I smiled a little at Grover's silly smile and Nancy's petulant scowl. At least in my line of questioning, Mr. Brunner caught her out too. He somehow always managed to catch the sly comments.

I cleared my throat as I thought about the question. "I don't know. Maybe that blood relation doesn't equate to automatic trust. Or it shouldn't, at least."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed.

Grover whacked his shoulder against mine. "You okay?"

"Asks the guy with peanut-butter in his hair." I looked him up and down. "And ketchup colouring his shirt."

He held up his hands. "A treat as it is a curse."

"Well, to wrap this up," Mr Brunner said, "Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children. They grew in his stomach. The immortal gods defeated their father by using his own scythe again him and proceeded to scatter his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the underworld."

"Ew, mustard," Nancy grumbled, scrunching up her nose. "Worse than throwing up children."

I gave her a hard look. "You ate peanut-butter and ketchup. You can't say anything." I smirked a little. "I wouldn't be surprised if you start to throw up dolls."

"On that happy note," Mr. Brunner said, clapping his hands. "It's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class went off. Girls giggled at the stories and naked statues. Nancy complained that her stomach was in knots because of 'mustard', and the guys, well they shoved each other around.

Grover called me to follow but Mr. Brunner said, "Ms. Jackson."

For some reason, I knew to stay back.

"Go ahead, Grov," I said, then turned to Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner stared right into my own eyes. His brown eyes had many shades, like each lifetime he gained a new shade to add to his collection. His life experience seemed so very vast and widespread.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. "About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Sure," I said offhandedly. "Deception of people you should or do trust and all that."

He did not appear amused. "What you learn from me is vitally important and I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Emma Jackson."

He always said the same thing. He always wanted so much from me. Too much. I, being the procrastinator that I was would never live up to his expectations. Did I want to? What about what I wanted? Did that not count too? Did it matter?

He praised other children, but then he would turn to me. Mr. Brunner's eyes always held a challenge. 'Can you do it? Can you do better?'

The problem with teachers is not knowing when not to push. He expected me to be like everyone else. _Let's have a pop quiz_ , he'd announce on a random morning. _Lets check to see if you remember the different names and places of the Greeks and Romans, kid that has dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Let's see if you're actually trying, huh?_

He would be okay if he expected me to be a normal every day student, anything that was above a grade C, but he expected too much. He expected better and I had nothing better to give.

"I'm sure it is, Mr. Brunner," I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. "But respectfully sir, there's only so much effort that can be put in without a breakdown. I know my limits."

I did not give him a chance to say anything else. I would not have wanted him to. He looked up and above my shoulder with one of the most expressive sad eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

I joined the class outside. Hardly anyone noticed my absence. They just sat on the steps and ate their packed lunches and took pictures of the pigeons squawking on the side walk. Nancy strutted up and down the steps on the furthest right as her friends watched, applauding her efforts on her attempt at mimicking a model.

Percy sat by me on the edge of the steps. "What did he want?"

"To emphasise an important life lesson, apparently," I answered. "And no, I'm not in trouble. At least I don't think I am."

"Right." Percy was used to it. He sometimes got the same 'pep talks' as me. He looked up to the sky and frowned. "I _guess_ Donald Trump is wrong. Global warming is so not a concept just made up by the Chinese. I mean come on, New York's weather has been bizarre since Christmas."

"...I can't believe that guy is our president."

Percy chuckled. "Hate is always going to be in the world, Emma. Just there was a lot more hate in America than we thought."

Percy was right in both aspects. People were spiteful and bigoted. The weather had been abnormal. Clouds were draped in dark cloaks. Lightning struck in the distance with a distant thunderous sound a few seconds before each strike.

Grover sat by the water fountain, once he caught sight of us he waved us over away from the others.

When I sat by him he asked, "Detention?"

"No," I said, rolling my eyes. "Just Mr. Brunner saying the same old things. Anyway, I would have dragged Tomato face down with me if I got detention."

He furrowed his eyebrows, then a look of realisation dawned on him. "Yeah, I heard what she called you. I'm sorry."

"What did she say?" Percy asked, munching on an apple.

Grover opened this mouth to answer but I have him a warning look. "Just the usual, Percy," I answered.

Percy nodded and took another bite of his apple. Grover just gave me a look that spelled out that he understood but still was concerned.

I looked away from him and out onto the street. As I watched the cars drive by, my stomach knotted with anxiety as it always did when I thought about mom and little Jasmine. I could have hopped onto a bus and be at their apartment in twenty minutes tops. I could have seen both of them and hugged them. But then I would see mom's happy smile slowly fade as she pushed for me to go back to school, boarding school.

I understood that Percy and I were handfuls growing up, especially at school. Being a single mom did not help. I always thought that parents should not have kids if they were only to ship their children off to boarding school. I still thought that sometimes. What was the point?

Did she plan to send Jasmine off too? I never got around to asking her. Somehow I knew I would not be able to control my facial expression and she would see right through me, to how I really felt about our arrangement. I'm sure she knew, anyway, but to see it? No thank you.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Mr. Brunner glided down a ramp and expertly span to avoid a trash can.

With Percy taking yet another bite out of his apple, I went to eat my own lunch only to see the plastic box gain a darker shade. I looked up, Nancy stood in front of me with a sickeningly wide smile.

"Hello," she greeted, rocking back and forth on her heels. She twisted the fork in the lunchbox that contained pasta. When no one replied right away she sighed. "Knock knock. Is anyone going to bother to answer the freaking door?"

What were we? The three little pigs?

Percy ignored her and kept eating.

Grover's shoulders hunched over. He offered a small, "Hi."

I was not as great at small talk as my counterparts. "What do you want, Nancy?"

Her attempt to smile innocently actually made me want to vomit.

"Nothing really, I just came to say hi." She brought the fork up to her mouth but twirled it at the last second so the clump of pasta flew onto Grover's face. " _And_ I've said my hello. I best be off now."

Honestly, I can not recall what happened next. I was too busy trying to think happy thoughts like brownies and puppies, even rainbows. I tried thinking of sheep jumping over a fence and counting them. I tried to calm the hell down.

What I do recall was my lunchbox landed on Percy's lap and somehow I ended up being the one that stood up and Nancy happened to be spurting water from her mouth from within the fountain.

"My-my shoes," Nancy gasped out with wide eyes. Her eyes narrowed on me. "Emma assaulted me!" she screeched. "Mrs. Dodds! Come quick! This imbecile physically assaulted me because of my political beliefs! This is discrimination!"

Mrs. Dodds somehow popped out of nowhere and grabbed my upper arm.

Then the whispering started.

"Did you see the water?"

"What a freaksho-"

"This is _so_ going on snapchat."

All I could do was groan. I did not know what exactly happened but all I knew was I did not want it to spread online.

Mrs. Dodds let go of my arm and offered a hand out to Nancy. Once out of the fountain Nancy whipped her hair back and forth, essentially drowning the ketchup and pasta off of Grover.

"You're fine, dear," Mrs. Dodds said to Nancy before turning toward me. "Now honey-" her voice slithered.

"I'm innocent! Totally innocent," I interrupted, lifting my hands up as if that would prove something. "She flung herself in there like a ragdoll. Besides, she also flung her food all over Grover."

Well I hoped she did it to herself anyway.

"Well there's your motive, you silly girl." Mrs. Dodds smiled in response, officially freaking me out. "Come with me, Ms. Jackson."

I was shoved aside. "No!" Grover yelped, gaining a death glare from Mrs. Dodds. "Emma's innocent. It was my motive. She didn't push Nancy. I did."

Both Percy and I stared at him, completely bewildered. Grover usually did not stand up for himself, nevermind anyone else. Grover always complained of goosebumps when Mrs. Dodds grinned.

She cocked her head to the side, retaining her death glare. "Mr. Underwood," she said lowly, making his lower lip tremble. "I think you're lying."

"But-"

"No, Mr. Underwood," she said, her voice sharp. " _You will not_ defy me. Stay here."

Grover looked like he was about to cry.

Percy just looked plain confused.

I offered Grover my best smile and said to Mrs. Dodds, "No one pushed her, especially not Grover. Ask anyone."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me, but at the same time she looked satisfied with my response. "Let's go, _now_."

Nancy looked up from wringing her hair out and smirked at me. Grover stared over my shoulder and Percy's fists were clenched but his eyes stared down at his feet. I did not want Nancy the delight of my inner wish to kill her so I continued to smile my honest to God best smile.

She shrank back, looking freaked out, making my smile even more manic.

When I turned to face Mrs. Dodds she was not there. I looked to where Grover eyes peered at and there she stood, already up the steps at the museum's entrance. I blinked a few times, totally confused.

"Em," Grover said, looking like he was about to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm _so sorry_."

"Over dramatic much?" Nancy laughed.

I ignored her and waved him off. "It's okay. She has no proof, Grov. Besides, what's the worst thing that can happen?"

I must have zoned out longer than I thought because Mrs. Dodds waved me over impatiently. Sometimes I wondered if I was crazy. I felt like my eyes were always two steps behind transferring images to my brain.

So I went after Mrs. Dodds, trying to ignore the image of an anxious Grover in my head. I could not shake it. His face had grown pale and his eyes kept darting back and forth between Mrs. Dodds and Mr. Brunner, like he was some sort of saviour.

I tore my gaze away from Mr. Brunner who spoke to a student with a soft smile, totally engaged in their conversation. Mrs. Dodds disappeared again.

She tapped her foot impatiently against the ground by the gift shop.

Once I reached her I scowled. "I'm not wasting a dime on that girl."

She sneered at me. "Of course not."

With an acute spin of heels, she stalked down the hallway. She led us back to the Roman and Greek section. We walked until she stood in front of the Greek gods. A low rumble escaped her lips as she crossed her arms. Her face was full of utter disdain as she glanced up at the statues.

In that split second my mind jumped to every other time Mrs. Dodds gave out to me. Not once were we alone. Except right at that moment, in the huge hall? We were all alone.

"Your deception has been revealed, Mrs. Jackson," she said, mindlessly flicking her thumb nail. Her very pointed thumbnail.

I almost smiled. I felt like Matilda under Ms. Trunchbull's accusing gaze.

I amused myself by saying, "I didn't do it."

"Now honey." Yeah, she did not look as amused as I was. If anything, her dead eyes looked pure evil. "You must have thought it could only go on for so long. Did you really think you would get away with it?"

Okay, now she was not making any sense.

"Mrs. Dodds," I said carefully, mindful of the fact that she kind of hated my guts. "Nancy is the girl who cried wolf."

Her eyes flickered. I could not pinpoint the change but her stature appeared different. Thunder shook the building. Honestly it felt like a horror movie, all alone with a teacher who looked demonic, friends cast aside because of the power of position and eerie weather?

Yup. I was _so_ in a horror movie.

 _The ditz who gets killed at the very beginning. I'm not even a main character, just a tool to set the play in motion._

I let out a scoff at my thoughts.

"We are not fools, Emma Jackson," Mrs. Dodds voice boomed. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess," she hissed. "Confess and you will suffer _less_ pain."

" _Less_ pain?" My eyes bulged.

This was over the top, even for Mrs. Dodds. I jumped to the conclusion that this was not just about what happened to Nancy. I could not remember doing anything remotely worthy of well, _torture,_ as she made it clear that was in her plans.

She flicked her nail again. "Well?"

"Uh," I stuttered. "This isn't the nineteen seventies, corporal punishment isn't a thing any more. You know, the eighth amendment?"

"You dare..." she hissed looking positively offended. "Your time is up, Emma Jackson. Prepare to meet your end."

I could have sighed in relief. This was _totally_ a dream. I was so sure of it.

Her normal dead eyes oozed with what I guessed was blood. The nails she kept flicking turned into a huge claw, like a claw of an eagle. Of course her everyday jacket melted and became some sort of weird leathered wings. _Of course_ I'd have a nightmare about that ugly jacket. Her normal yellow teeth enlarged.

I pinched myself as the non human- _thing_ stood in front of me, ready to rip my throat out.

But, I did not wake up.

Behind me a click could be heard, making me wince. Another person with a habit of flicking their nails? I glanced over my shoulder. It was a weird sight. Mr. Brunner rolled up on his wheelchair, with a pen in his hand.

Not a second later he flung it in my direction. "What ho, Emma!"

At the same time a whip of wind close to my ear slashed and I grabbed the damn pen as an automatic response, rolling to the side. Only it was not a pen. It was a freaking sword. A bronze sword. The sword he always showed us in class. His prized possession.

"Strangest dream ever," I murmured.

Mrs. Dodds's teeth sunk into her bottom lip, puncturing it yet nothing seeped out.

I clenched the sword in my hand.

She opened her mouth, leaving a hole in her lip. "Die, honey."

Her wings pushed down with force and she let out a screech.

I also screeched out of sheer bloody terror and did the only thing I could have, I swung the stupid sword.

The sword managed to clip her shoulder. It was like throwing a pebble into a lake. It sunk straight down effortlessly.

I coughed as a yellow powder replaced Mrs. Dodds. Her screeched echoed against the four walls of the building. When all I could hear was my breathing I turned to Mr. Brunner.

He was not there.

I turned back around and the powder? Gone.

The sword? A ballpoint pen.

Me? Well, I was all alone.

I walked back outside, clicking the pen nervously in my hand.

Grover and Percy still sat by the fountain. Percy still had my lunchbox on his lap, he stole my grape and threw it in the air for him to catch. Grover laughed at his failure.

Nancy caught my eye and walked until she stood in front of me. "Oh isn't this just wonderful." She giggled with a wide grin. "Mrs. Kerr must have given you a hell of a giving out to. Look how pale you are."

I blinked. "Who?"

"Mrs. Kerr," she repeated, looking at me like I was stupid. "Our teacher."

Mrs. Kerr? "Nancy, did you hit your head?"

She rolled her eyes. "I should be the one asking you that. But I don't exactly care to."

With a flip of her hair, she walked away.

Grover looked just as confused as Nancy did when I asked about Mrs. Dodds.

"Who?"

I nodded to myself. This was a joke. He had paused. Percy was a lousy liar. "Percy, come on. Where is she?"

"Emma, you're acting really weird," he said, actually looking concerned. "Oh I get it. Is this a ploy to go back home? That's a new one."

"What the hell," I muttered, noticing his genuine confusion. "This isn't funny, guys. Not funny at all."

At Percy's perplexed look, I dodged his hand that aimed for my forehead and frowned. Mr. Brunner still spoke to the girl, looking as engaged as ever. Like he never left in the first place.

I went over to him, my heart racing at this point.

Just as I was about to ask him, he plucked the pen right out of my hands. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Ms. Jackson."

I stared at the pen for a moment, before shaking my head. "Right. Okay, sorry. Where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared at me blankly. "Who?"

I could not contain my groan. "The teacher who accompanied us on this trip, sir."

He frowned and sat forward, looking just as concerned as Percy did. "Emma, there's no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?"

 _Never._

He was a new teacher yet he said with certainty 'never'.

I tried to smile, but I'm sure it came out as a grimace of some sorts. "I'm fine. Maybe I had a little too much sun."

Yet the sun stayed hidden behind the clouds.

"Yes," he murmured. "That must be it."


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you think _maybe_ Mr. Thompson will forget about the test?" Percy asked, smiling a hopeful smile at Grover.

"Maybe," Grover replied, looking unconvinced by his own words. "Maybe not?" Percy's face dropped, making Grover look just as put out as he was. "Why? Did you not study?"

"It really doesn't matter if I did or not. It's always the same result anyway." Percy let out a groan and let his head read against the table. "I _did_ study though. I've done the extra problems. I practised. It doesn't mean I got the right answers." He shrugged helplessly. "But I tried. To Mr. Thompson, that will mean nothing."

Grover winced at his friend's admission.

Honestly I did too. I knew exactly what he meant. No matter how hard we tried, we would not amount to the expectations given to us. He would get through it. He would be disheartened for a while, but he would get through it.

"Don't stop trying, man," Grover said, trying to sound optimistic. "That would suck if you didn't come back here next year. I need you around."

"I won't stop," Percy sighed out. "It still sucks though."

"Yeah." Grover stared up at the ceiling. "It does."

The plate on the table was full to the brim with food. I moved it every so often with my fork, making it look like some had been eaten. I did not eat breakfast that morning either, I lacked appetite from my shortage of sleep.

Percy chomped down his food, leaving trails of gravy on either side of his lips, worries forgotten for a moment. Usually I would have the urge to make fun of him or at least be irritated by the sight, but I did not feel or do either.

That required effort, effort required energy and energy required sleep.

It was official. I had gone crazy.

Ever since I pulverized Mrs. Dodds with a sword, nothing had felt right. As the weeks went by, I resided myself in thinking, maybe I had some sort of nightmare that altered my memory somehow. Maybe the breakdown from Mr. Brunner's pressure finally happened.

Perhaps Emma Jackson finally _snapped._

I mean, everyone babbled on and on about the teacher, Mrs. Kerr, the woman who hopped on the bus at the end of the field trip. I never saw that women before the moment she called for us to get on the bus. _Never._ Yet everyone else had. Everyone else except me.

Again, all alone, just like after I murdered my teacher. Or imagined it. Still alone either way.

Testing Percy once again I said, "Now honey," real sweetly and used a napkin to wipe his mouth. "Don't want to ruin your shirt, do we?"

A shudder went through his body and goosebumps rose on his arms. They vanished as quickly as they appeared. I knew I perfected Mrs. Dodds mannerisms when Grover's bottom lip involuntarily trembled. _Gotcha._

"You know," Percy said, stabbing a potato. He brought it up to his mouth and held it there. "You've been off since that field trip, right? You've been avoiding us."

Grover added, "And you have been all silent and broody too."

"More like everyone else has been off," I muttered, resisting the urge to throw my food at him. At Percy's confused look I responded, "Have I?"

Grover seemed to hear my first statement as his mouth gaped open for a second. He shook his head and pretended to be occupied by scooping up some mash.

Percy tried licking away the gravy. "Yeah, you have. Any reason why?"

Of course I had. I could have been dangerous. Perhaps I hallucinated the sword and Mrs. Dodds turning into some monster. Maybe I killed her with a ballpoint pen.

It was all maybe this and maybe that, but I could not take any chances. Even if I did not kill her, my hallucinations still meant I could have been a threat to someone.

"No. No reason. I didn't notice. I'm sorry." I sighed, tired. I used to think Percy was a lousy liar. I began to think he was actually an expert at it. Did they both want me to go insane? It felt like it. "What do you mean _off_?"

"You're acting different. Strange." He placed his fork on the table and stared at me, cocking his head to the side. "Are you mad at Grover? You usually don't hold grudges for this long."

Grover's eyes averted from mine and back down to his plate. He too had not eaten much. I let myself stare at him, watching with amusement and mild concern with the sheen of sweat that started to form on his forehead.

I looked away from him and tried to ignore Percy intense stare and replied with a simple, "Nope. I'm not mad."

"Well he seems to think so," Percy said, nudging Grover lightly.

"You don't need to speak for him, Percy. I don't bite." Unless my hallucinations turned him into brownie or something. I looked back to Grover. "Is there a reason I should be angry?"

He wiped his forehead with the end of his sleeve and shrugged lamely. He paused. "I don't think so..."

I sipped on my bottled water, not all that thirsty. Just like every other time I referenced Mrs. Dodds or replicated her creepy ways, I received the same look as always, 'Are you crazy?'. Even after the topic changed, Percy could not change the question that reflected from within his eyes.

Percy still thought I acted strangely, even if his body reacted for a split moment, his mind obviously did not. Perhaps it was my creepiness rather than a reminder of Mrs. Dodds's. Maybe I freaked him out.

 _Mrs. Dodds, you spiteful hag, where the hell are you?_ Weeks had gone by and any one else would have given up already. I almost did.

However, Grover kept my spirits up that I was not all that crazy. Each and every time I randomly brought up Mrs. Dodds he paused. He sweated. He became nervous. Every time he lied, he just had to pause. It was his tell. He would claim that she never existed, just like Mr. Brunner, except he could not pull it off like him, like everyone else.

Pushing my plate to the side, I laid my head against the table.

Obsessive. I was completely obsessed, but how could I not be?

Even at night the vision of Mrs. Dodds pitch black eyes and huge claws that nearly struck me invaded my dreams. Each time she popped up, I awoke and did not fall back asleep.

Hence my crankiness.

Twisting my head so I could see the pair, I asked, "Do you think dreams can replicate reality? Or maybe the better question is, do you think dreams can be stored as a memory? Memories?"

They both blinked at me. When I just stared back it seemed to snap them out of their stupor.

"Well yeah," Percy answered slowly. "It depends on what you mean. I have a bunch of anxiety exam dreams. Sometimes I think we have something assigned to do, but it was actually some twisted dream."

Noticing Grover did not plan to say anything, I asked him right out, "What about you Grover? Do you think dreams can be saved as memories? Tricking us into believing, say a person was real?"

"Well," he said slowly. He chewed on his lower lip. "You can't make up a person's face. You had to have seen them before, if they look like a stranger, maybe you saw them in passing one time."

I pressed, "Do you think dreams can make you remember a relationship with a stranger, then? Events, conversations, the whole lot?"

"I don't know." He looked extremely uncomfortable.

Percy stopped Grover's fidgeting hand. "This is what I mean, Emma. You're so _strange_ all of a sudden."

I smiled half heartedly. "Some people find strange interesting, Percy. Don't you?"

He grinned at my light heartedness. "Nah. I'll try to though?"

"Oh that's such an _imposition_ , right?"

Of course Percy looked confused and Grover, well I could not pinpoint his emotions any more. They seemed too erratic and honestly, at that point I started to give up with trying to figure him out.

I thought if my questions sounded crazy and absurd enough, he would feel guilty and tell me the truth. Apparently he had resolve of steel.

Maybe he just did not care about me.

The bell rang and we said goodbyes as we headed to our individual classes.

"Good luck," I called out to Percy. "Just try your best."

He glanced over his shoulder and tried to smile. Obviously he failed. "Thanks, I'll need it."

I wanted to assure him that he would not, that he would fly it. But that would be lying and I did not like liars.

Rain lashed against the windows of the building and wind howled. You could see the vibrations of the glass. It had been a constant depressive weather since the field trip, even venturing outside of New York. Tornadoes, storms, reports of missing ships in the oceans. It had gone chaotic.

It almost set the mood for most of my days. Questioning my sanity and being cooped up indoors? Not a great mood setter. Not a great combination at all.

There were some available seats in the English class near the front so I sat there. My bag thudded against the ground as I slumped into the chair.

Mr. Nicoll started the class straight away, ordering for us to take out the play; 'King Lear'. He assigned each character a person to read their part and of course I got Edmund, my favourite character because of how manipulative he was.

I tried to follow along as everyone read but I got completely lost. Nancy sped through her part, casting a knowing look in my direction. The conversation flowed too quickly and the words escaped my grasp. The letters were sucked into a whirlwind and spat out in an unordered form.

Obviously the classroom became silent when I did not read my part.

"Ms. Jackson, why can you never pay attention?" Mr. Nicoll snapped, huffing in annoyance. "Wake up child!"

Nancy giggled. "Haven't you heard, sir? She has sexdaily." At the snorts of laughter she excused herself. "Oh shoot, I meant dyslexia."

I shot a glare at Nancy. I couldn't really blame the class for laughing. It was one of her more original jokes at my expense, after all.

"Enough." Mr. Nicoll stopped the laughter and frowned. "At least give it an attempt, Ms. Jackson. I can't give you participation points if you don't. It will affect your grade tremendously."

I looked down to the page and tried to find at least the right dialogue but I could not. It was like the letters danced and twirled just to taunt me.

Groaning in frustration, I said, "I'm sorry. I can't."

"You did not even attempt it," he claimed, fixing his glasses to fit on his nose properly. "I had no idea just how lazy this generation has become. You're given a great opportunity that some people don't have and you waste it away."

I zoned out. But his words kept on rattling in the background. My nails dug into my palm. Of course with Mr. Nicoll still ranting and raving about my lack of effort, students around me began to whisper, only making it harder for me to gain control of my thoughts.

I just had to say something. _Anything_. _Something_ to shut him up.

"...You know what they say. Those who can't do, teach. Such a waste of an opportunity, huh?"

"That's it!" Mr. Nicoll roared, startling everyone. Even me. "Out! Get out of my classroom! Be expecting a phone call to your parents, _girl_."

My hands shook as I grabbed my bag and slung it across my shoulder. I snatched the book from the table and began to stalk out of the classroom.

"Finally," Nancy said loudly enough for her circle to hear. "They treat the special students like they're made of freaking glass. They get away with murder."

"I know right," a friend of hers agreed with her.

I winced. Yellow dust appeared behind closed eyes.

"Mr. Nicoll's has the right idea. I mean, I know she has gone a bit loopy. Like Mrs. Dodds? An imaginary friend at this age? Weirdo, anyone? Equality for all students. Same punishments and same treatment. It's only fair."

Again, I lost control of my arm and clipped the back of Nancy's head with my King Lear book.

" _Ow_!" she hissed. "What the hell?"

"Equity over equality, Nancy," I called over my shoulder, ignoring the shouting of Mr. Nicoll and ignoring the screech of Nancy's rage.

"Ms. Jackson!"

Now that made me stop. I did not turn to face him when I said, "Yes?"

"Don't you dare come back into this classroom again. Do you hear me?"

I smiled a little to myself. "Gladly."

Of course the headmaster sat me down in his office as he wrote a letter to mom, declaring I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. That was fine. Great even. I went through the motions and listened to his lecture on _assaulting Nancy and showing no respect for authority figures_.

I was in better spirits on the way back to my dorm room, being able to breath without getting glared at and all. That was until I noticed a figure standing by my bedroom door, waiting for me.

"Emma..."

A wave of guilt hit me. If I did not return, Percy most likely would not either. Mom would not split us up.

"It' nothing new, right?" I asked, casually. I walked by him, not really looking at him and into my room. He followed after me with a bag, full to the brim with books.

He shrugged a little and sat down on my computer chair. "No. I guess not."

Percy silently pulled out some books and placed them on the table. His eyes darted across the page for a few minutes, too fast to be able to read or absorb anything, before he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Pursing my lips, I managed to get out an, "I'm sorry."

"I know." He smiled at me, letting me know he in fact did not blame me. "It was just a matter of time. I honestly thought it would have been me, with the last warning and all."

Slumping on the bed allowed for a good view out of the dorm window. Trees rocked just a touch back and forth, not enough to worry about. The smell of the pine trees always wafted through my room, it was a comforting smell.

My eyes dropped to my hands. I would miss Grover, even if he did go about things in an odd way. I would miss how Percy and I had gotten closer because of our friendship with Grover. We never shared a friend before because the concept of separate lives was important to us. Our own identities and all that.

"I'll miss Grover," I admitted, glancing at Percy apologetically. "I really will."

He tapped his fingers against the table. "Same," he replied, staring at one spot on the floor. "...You've been strange."

I agreed with an, "I know."

"Are you homesick?" he asked, a knowing glint in his eye. "I worry about her too. Both of them. But, mom knows how to keep herself busy. You know that."

"A little," I admitted. "I didn't mean for this to happen though. If you're implying I planned for this? I didn't," I told him and he looked convinced. "How do you think she'll react?"

"The same way she always does," Percy answered with a rueful grin. "With some brownies."

True. As usual when one or both of us got kicked out of our school, she welcomed us home with a warm hug. We'd spend a lot of time together, with a kick ass set of brownies before she needed to discuss the next move. Our options of schools.

Pulling my own books, we studied in silence for a while. I tried Latin because well, guilt consumed me. Maybe it was shame. Either way, it was not a pleasant feeling.

Mr. Brunner always had so much faith in me and I had let him down. I would still be doing the Latin test, so I decided what the hell? Maybe one last hurrah for the only person who seemed to want me to do better than I expected of myself. He had faith and and I was envious of that sentiment.

Then of course the silence was interrupted with Percy throwing his book across the room, landing on top of my bed. The sheets he stuffed into the book flew everywhere, raining down on me.

He stood up abruptly and pulled on his black hair. "How am I supposed to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces? What's the point in even trying?"

Then he started pacing the room, making the small piece of concentration I managed to build up, fade away.

 _Now I remember why I never studied with Percy. His panic was contagious._

I took a deep breath. I picked up my mythology book and went for the door.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked, looking positively out of it.

"Your freak out is making me freak out a little," I admitted, making him take on a sheepish smile. "I'm just going to pop down to Mr. Brunner's office, get some last minute tips, see what I can get out of him."

"Okay," he mumbled. "Okay. You do that and..."

"And?"

"I'll probably take a nap."

I scoffed. "Enjoy. Set an alarm though, kay?"


	4. Chapter 4

I walked toward the faculty building feeling a little bit anxious. It was seven o'clock in the evening and I was sure Mr. Brunner had better things to do then talk to a student about some flimsy test. Despite my thoughts, my legs carried me inside the building. It was like I had no real choice in the matter.

The faculty hallways were dark and most of the offices were empty. Just as I was about to knock on Mr. Brunner's door, I noticed it was already open and hushed voices spoke inside.

I do not know why, but I hung back.

"...worried about Emma, sir."

I froze, then dropped my hand to my side.

I counted my lucky stars that I listened to my instinct to hang back. Grover, my best friend actually spoke of concerns to a teacher. Maybe I had gone a little too far with acting a little crazy. Well, it was not all acting, but still. Could I blame him? Kind of. Not a lot though.

So I inched closer, my back pressed firmly against the wall.

"... alone this summer," Grover said. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, they know too!"

"We would only make matters worse. She may be ready, but think of the boy, Percy," Mr. Brunner said carefully. "We need the boy to mature more."

"But she may not have time!" Grover argued, raising his voice. "The summer solstice deadline..."

"Will have to be resolved without her, Grover. Let them both enjoy their ignorance while they can."

"Sir, Emma saw her..." Grover trailed off. "She's certain. I know that for sure."

"Her imagination," Mr Brunner dismissed Grover's clear concerns. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince her of that."

"I'm not sure of that, she keeps testing me," Grover admitted. "Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice choked at the last part. "You know what that would mean. I can't let that happen."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping them both alive until next call."

The mythology book dropped out of my hand. Alive? The thud brought me out of my stunned state.

The room went silent.

I plucked the book off of the floor and raced down the hallway, my heart trying to punch its way out of my chest.

I slipped inside the nearest door and tried to keep my breathing as quiet as possible.

Through the crack of the door a shadow slid across the glass of Mr. Brunner's office. It was a shadow of something very tall. I assumed someone else was also in the office because it could not have been Mr. Brunner, he would have been too low down to see.

The figure held up one of Mr. Brunner's class examples he would show us, an archer's bow.

The office's door opened and my body slid back so I would not be seen.

A few seconds went by without a sound until I heard a clop-clop-clop. The noise sounded weird so I went to see what it was only to flinch back at the sight of dark shape right outside of my door, breathing heavily.

I clasped one hand in the other to stop it from trembling.

After a few tense moments of controlling my breath, Mr. Brunner said down the hallway, "Nothing. My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine either," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..."

I waited for another voice to enter the conversation, but none came.

"Go back to your dorm, Grover," Mr. Brunner said to him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Ugh," Grover groaned. "Don't remind me."

I do not know how long I waited in the darkness, but in that time I thought about everything they both said. The conclusion I came to? Grover was clearly more crazy than I was and that in itself was an achievement. Mr. Brunner was too.

I slipped into my bedroom and nearly had a panic attack at the figure sleeping in the normally empty spare bed.

My shoes landed beside my bedside locker when I kicked them off, waking Percy at the same time.

"Hey," he slurred, barely awake. He sat up a little. "Have you got any tips for me?"

At this point I just laid on top of the bed and stared at the ceiling. "...Wake up at four. Study until you can't anymore."

"That's it?" he asked. I shook my head. "Then what else?"

"Pray."

"I think I'd rather take my chances," he mumbled, turning on his side so he could see me. "You should probably sleep too, you look awful. Is everything okay?"

"I'm strange, remember?"

"Even the strange sleep, Emm..." He fell asleep, hardly finishing my name.

That night I did not get much sleep. I could say for certain that Grover and Mr. Brunner talked about me and even Percy behind our backs. They were worried and thought we were in some sort of danger. They were keeping something from me. I intended to find out what that something was.

At four o'clock in the morning, studying commenced. Percy slept, dead to the world. The hours flew by and before I knew it, the exam was over. A gruelling three hours of it. I felt like I did okay, not great.

"Ms. Jackson?" he called, just as I was about to leave.

Percy grumbled something about failing on his way out and I stood frozen for a split second. How embarrassing, caught eavesdropping. Could he have not let me leave the school peacefully?

"Emma," he said, sighing a little. "It's for the best."

Say what now?

"Sorry?"

"Yancy wasn't the place for you and that's okay. Don't be discouraged by this by any means."

Of course his words were murmured quietly, although the late testers could hear every word he said. Even Nancy who just grinned at me and offered no more. She was probably afraid that I would smack her again.

"Well," I said, smiling a little, just glad I had not got caught. "I suppose so."

He seemed bewildered by my response. He leaned back in his chair and eyed me. "I mean this isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

Again, his words were soft spoken but I got the message. Was he trying to make me sad or ashamed? He told me in front of the class that it was clear as day that I was not cut out for a school like this. Did he want to embarrass me?

I shrugged a little. "I know that."

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said, looking like he expected something. "What I'm trying to say is that you're not normal, Emma."

"Uh. Thank you?" He sure did want to make my self-esteem plummet, didn't he? I took a few steps back, eying him warily. "Well, good chat Mr. Brunner."

"Emma-"

Yeah, thanks but no thanks, I closed the door on my way out, even if other students were right behind me.

It felt kind of good to get out of that classroom. I missed an opportunity to ask Mr. Brunner about what I heard, but then I figured, what if that was a dream, just like Mrs. Dodds? Acting like that in front of a teacher was a big no no. I would have better chances with Grover.

It was the last day of the term and I had my suitcase already packed, waiting for me by Percy's side.

"Want me to carry it?" he asked, gesturing toward the school's exit.

I shrugged. "Sure. If it's not too heavy."

Once outside, Percy dropped our bags in the same pile and we went off to speak to his own friends.

As my friends chatted, I watched. We were all troubled kids. That did not mean that we were all the same. We lived different lifestyles, such as them being rich as hell and going on fantastic holidays abroad.

They spoke of their plans in great detail, as though they were they ones who planned it for months, not their parents. I slipped away before the conversation could turn back to me.

Of course as soon as I went, they looked at me and gossiped about the fact they would never see me again.

When I made it back to Percy, Grover was right by his side. They did not look like they were saying goodbyes.

"Oh," Percy said at my questioning look, a grin forming on his face. "He booked a ticket to Manhattan, the same as us."

"Really?" I turned to Grover. "Good. I didn't want to say goodbye just yet."

Grover smiled down at the ground, his ears turned pink. "Me either."

We hopped on the bus and we made our way to the back so we could all sit together. Percy brought popcorn and we shared it between us. It was suitable for our situation because of how Grover watched the other passengers, like they were a threat to his life- like they were a movie brought to life.

I watched him as he shifted nervously and fidgeted endlessly. I always thought he hated school trips because it was a far larger chance of him being teased. Except no one was there to tease him now so why did he not just relax?

Then I recalled something, I whispered, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha- what do you mean?"

Originally I was going to play it off as a joke, but the question provoked such a strong reaction that I almost cried. Maybe I was not crazy after all.

"I kinda eavesdropped on your conversation with Mr. Brunner," I admitted.

His face paled and I just wanted to fist pump the air. He glanced to Percy who was too entertained by throwing popcorn in the air for him to catch, with earbuds in. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh... not much." Pretty much all of it. I asked as casually as I could, "What's the summer solstice deadline?"

At that, he practically nearly cried. "Look, Em." He only called me that when he felt guilty. "I spoke to him, yes. But you were always on about Mrs. Dodds, a demon teacher, what was I supposed to do?"

"...I never mentioned anything about demonic qualities, Grover."

His 'coolish' exterior cracked a little. "...And I thought maybe you were overstressed because you made up an imaginary figure."

I just stared. He really was willing to lie to my face. He started to sweat and fidget even more considering I did not look away from him. The passengers he seemed oh so worried about took a back seat and I was driving.

"Um." Percy startled us both, one ear bud hung loose. "You've been hallucinating demonic creatures?"

"No, Percy. I haven't." I tried to ease his worry. He did not look too convinced. "Grover, you really are a bad liar, you know."

Grover grumbled something under his breath and took out two cards. He handed one to me and then to Percy and sat back in his seat in a strop. He crossed an arm over the other and stared determinedly down the bus, straight out of the front window.

"Do you have any idea what this says?" Percy asked, pursing his lips.

"Uh." My eyes squinted down at the fancy script. "No idea. Give me a second."

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

Just as I was about to answer Percy, Grover cut me off, "Just take the card and call me if you need me."

"What's Half-"

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped, gaining strange looks in our direction. "That's a personal address. No one else knows about it."

"Okay," Percy said, sounding glum. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion?"

Grover looked confused for a second before he nodded. "Yeah. That's right. Or if you need me..."

"Why would we need you?" I asked, it came out harsher than I intended, evidently as Percy shot me a warning look. "What?" I asked, innocently. "It's just a question."

I ignored the blush that made its way from the tips of Grover's ears right down to the edge of his neck. "She's right, Percy. Look, Em, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you. Both of you."

I stared at him.

Despite his slight stutter, he did not pause. He came right out with it. Of course he was nervous because he finally started to tell the truth. I cracked a smile with Grover's attempt to push his chest out.

Percy burst into a fit of laughter. "You protect us? We've been keeping bullies away from you! Not the other way around, Grov."

"Stop it Percy. Look, Grover," I said. I pursed my lips, silently agreeing with Percy. "What exactly are you protecting us from?"

He opened his mouth to respond but the bus rattled and conked. The window behind us filled up with a dark smoke and the smell inside the bus made me want to vomit. The bus driver shouted out a few curses as he pulled the bus over.

"Just wait a second," the bus driver told us and hopped out. He made all the right noises, the clanking, the fiddling, but then he slammed the compartment shut. "Right! Out of the bus!"

Grover jumped ahead of us and Percy and I filed out after him. The sky looked better that day with only grey clouds and a mild mist. Nevertheless I pulled up my coat's hood in an attempt to keep my ears warm from the chilling wind.

Percy slumped against the side of the bus and did not look in the least bothered. However, Grover anxiously kept twirling around, his eyes darted from one place to another, never keeping still.

We broke down on a stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. I would have never really noticed the land if we kept driving. There was a small hut on the other side of the road, with a nice maple tree standing beside it. In the hut's shelves, laid many fruit that made my mouth water. The popcorn's salt did not help.

What initially caught my attention was three old ladies, chilling beneath the mapletree on rocking chairs. They all worked on the same fabric and it looked liked it would turn out to be one huge sock. Of course the lady in the middle just held the fabric for the other two.

I couldn't help but stare at their faces. They looked ancient and one day, I would look like that. Grey hair, wrinkled face, pale skin and bony arms. They looked lifeless.

Then I finally looked into their eyes. The funny thing? They stared back, directly at me.

I bit my lip and looked at Grover to point out how the weirdest things happened to me but he seemed busy trying not to sneeze.

"Hey, Grover," I said, putting an arm on his shoulder. "Grover? You okay?"

"I- look. Please, please tell me they aren't looking at you," he pleaded.

Tugging on his sleeve I joked, "Well they can't see Percy behind the bus, can they?"

Yeah. That seemed to make him pale further.

"They are. Aren't they?" he whimpered. "Staring right at you."

"Yes, they are," I confirmed, shrugging. "People stare, Grover. This rather eh, large family sat beside me in pizza hut one time. I had three slices of pizza and until their own three boxes of it came, they watched me eat. Natural part of life."

"I remember that," Percy scrunched up his nose. "It was pretty weird. Funny as hell when you bit your own thumb."

I pouted. "That was sore."

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors, well if you could call them that. It had me transfixed. They looked like shears if anything. It was a mix of gold and silver.

"Get on the bus," Grover ordered, but I could not look away. When Percy just relaxed further on the bus and closed his eyes, he sighed. "Come on."

"No thanks," I said, pulling on the sleeves of my coat. "There's a bit of sun keeping me warm here. Never mind that death trap."

"..." He rolled his eyes, then pried the door open and took a step inside. He glanced over his shoulder. "Come on."

Percy climbed up after him, but I stayed back. I walked to the side so I could look at the ladies properly, just like last time they stared. The middle one took her shears and snipped the yarn with it. It was impossible to hear that cutting sound from where I was from, but somehow I did.

"Back on the bus!" the driver yelled, snapping me out of a haze, closing the compartment where the engine was and smiled sheepishly at the girl who was covered in soot.

Once on the bus again, I felt the chill. There was no sun shining through the glass. I could feel the tips of my fingers become numb. Percy curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. Grover, well his chattering teeth were hard not to hear.

"Grover?"

He tried to control his teeth but failed. "Yeah?"

"I think I've spent too much time thinking I'm crazy," I said slowly. "What are you not telling me?"

He swallowed hard and looked out Percy's side of the window. "Emma, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"

"Three old ladies," I answered easily. But when Grover dabbed his forehead with his sleeve I stopped for a second. "You're really freaked out. It's like the same reaction you had to Mrs. Dodds..."

He turned back to me and this expression, was dark. The darkest I had seen of Grover. In that moment I could confirm that Mrs. Dodds was in fact very real and she was nowhere near as bad as those knitting sock ladies, for some reason.

"What did you see?" he repeated.

"The middle lady, she cut the yarn."

"You saw her snip the cord," he eventually said, his voice cracked a little. "This is not happening. I don't want this to be like the last time."

Percy seemed to be awake. "What last time? And what happened?"

Grover did not seem to acknowledge him. "You made it past the sixth grade, by a long shot. But it's going to be same, isn't it?"

"Breathe." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station," he said, glancing between a confused looking Percy and back to me. "Promise me."

Percy automatically promised and Grover sagged in relief. I did not know how much Percy heard, but if he started to ask questions I did not know what I was supposed to tell him. The truth? I did not even know the half of it. This seemed all so messed up. Like it was a few months long dream.

Then I had a fatal thought. "That snipping of the yarn," I started out. "Is it like a superstition thing? Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

"Hah," Percy said, laughing. "You're so strange, Emma."

Grover did not laugh. He did not answer me either. He chewed on his thumb and looked back out Percy's window, where a bunch of sunflowers grew. A bunch of sunflowers that would end up beside my coffin at the funeral.

Maybe, I wasted a prayer. Maybe I prayed for the wrong thing altogether.


	5. Chapter 5

For the most part, conversations flowed on the bus, right up until the last half an hour. The toll of the journey ensured people whispered in order to not disturb those who could hardly keep their eyes open.

Me, being one of those who did not want to do anything but sleep had the urge to whack Grover because of his continuous mumbling.

After I discovered Grover was unwilling to spill any more information, I slept for the rest of the journey. Percy kept himself himself busy by listening to music and Grover kept going up levels in anxiety, he was practically a master at it. I thought he was even more anxious than I was when I thought I went crazy.

"Come on," Percy said, just as the bus stopped. I opened my eyes on time to see him stretch out in front of us. "I think you guys really need to sleep more, you acted really uh, weird today."

Grover and I shared a look, his eyes begged for something, something that I did not understand. I shrugged helplessly and looked down to my nails, not planning to get up until more people left the bus.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry about that," Grover agreed, glancing at me with wide eyes. He pretended to yawn. "It's probably exam stress making us whacko."

I nodded in agreement, still looking at my nails. "Probably. I'm surprised you're fine, Percy. _You_ were the one freaking out."

Percy laughed. "Hey, that's why I slept. You talk about crazy stuff when you're sleep deprived. I mean, really _out there_ stuff. You both could probably write awesome books together."

They both stood up and shared a grin. "You think so?" Grover asked, trying hard to not show how excited he was by the prospect. "I've always wanted to influence the way people think of the planet. Maybe that's one way to do it."

I offered Percy a small smile and refused to look Grover's way as I got off of the bus. My heart kept up an unsteady rhythm after I woke up from my nap and I felt a ball at the back of my throat, making it hard to swallow and even breathe if I thought about it too much.

"Sure, Grov," Percy said, pulling out his phone to check the time. "You just have to try, right?"

"Right!" he agreed then he motioned toward a bench. "Sorry guys, ugh. This always happens. Wait there, I gotta go pee."

Percy rolled his eyes and slumped down on the bench. "Okay. Hurry up, alright? I'm tired and hungry. I don't want to be out too late."

"Jeeze, I will." Grover dropped his bag beside him, looking very reluctant to leave. He pursed his lips. "Just wait there. _Right there_. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"We will," Percy groaned out. "Just go already."

"Yeah, we'll be right here," I said, tapping my foot against the ground. "Waiting."

Grover scrambled away and I rocked back and forth on my heels. I sat by Percy a couple of seconds later after he kept shooting me annoyed looks. I kept rocking back and forward on the seat and tried to smile but he looked as grumpy as ever.

Even when I stopped rocking, he continued to stare. I finally huffed out a, "What?"

"I thought you weren't mad at Grover." His face took on a scowl, making me return the facial expression. "What's up with that?"

I leaned forward, pretending to zip up my suitcase just so he would not see my face. " _Pfft._ Who said I was angry? I was never mad at him."

"You both looked like death banged on your front door," he complained, rubbing his eyes.

"More like nightmares," I mumbled.

"He's our best friend. Whatever is going on between you two, I'm sure you can sort out. It can't be that bad, right? I don't want to be in the middle of this awkwardness."

His choice of words made me wince. Death might be closer than he thought. Percy did not notice my reaction, he could hardly keep his eyes open.

Unlike my brother, I had a clear head. We sat there for three minutes, allowing time for a play by play of recent events to go through my head. The more I thought about it, the more restless I became.

Grabbing my phone hastily, I turned it on. "Oh," I said as calmly as I could and stood up.

"What?" Percy stood up after me. "What are you doing? Where are you going? He's coming right back."

"Grover said his dad picked him up," I lied, stuffing my phone into my pocket before he requested to see it. I grabbed my suitcase and started dragging it along the pavement. "What a shame."

"Really?" Percy's eyebrows furrowed. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and looked away. "He's been acting so distant lately. Do you think he ditched us?"

I felt bad. _Really bad_ but I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe."

He sighed. "All right, I'll call us a cab."

The drive was short but it felt like it went on for hours. Percy pouted the whole way home. He stared strangely at his phone, expecting a text message from Grover, no doubt.

My fingers tapped out randomly against the window, hoping Grover did not send any texts. For some reason he was averse to phones. He claimed they only a distraction from the real world. I counted on him being consistent with his beliefs.

Percy paid the cab and hauled our bags up the steps into the apartment. One step into our apartment was like entering a burning building. Immediately my eyes watered with the cigarette smoke that lingered in the air. Percy appeared immune. He walked in and straight for the bedrooms, lugging the suitcases behind him.

 _Home, sweet home._

Gabe Ugliano, otherwise known as my step-father clicked the remote of the television, muting it. "Ah, you're home then."

His friends did not pay any attention to me and continued playing their card game. With the television muted, it became an awkward rather quickly, with only the sound of clinking glasses to dispel the silence.

"Yeah," I answered, just to fill the silence. I rested my hip against the counter and looked around. "Where's mom?"

"Getting Jasmine from her friends," he said, flicking a card onto the table.

"Okay then..." I went to leave but he held up his hand.

"So kid, I read the letter. _Boy_ , what a long winded one this time around, eh? Looks like it was your turn to ah, _disappoint_ your hard working mother. Tut, tut."

"Yes, she works hard," I said, making my implication clear. _You don't._

Now that, caught his friends attention. Their eyes were bloodshot, just like Gabe's. His drinking and smoking habits obviously did not help with his health. He sucked in deep breaths, like each one did not quite satisfy him. With each exhale, a flap of his exposed stomach moved over another portion.

Percy came out of the bedroom a second later and rolled his eyes at Gabe's wheezing.

"Working hard as ever, Gabe," Percy muttered under his breath as he got some milk out. He left some letters on the counter, ones with big fat red writing stamped on the front. He glanced at the friends and said, "Gentlemen."

"What was that boy?" Gabe asked. At Percy's silence he waved his hand. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Do you know what matters? Cash. Where's your cash?"

Percy shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "What makes you think I have any?"

"Well," Gabe dragged out, sharing a wicked grin with his friends. "For one, your mother put some money in your bank account a few days ago. Two, you got a taxi home, and you always get change from them lot. Three? I see a green fella hanging out from your pocket."

Percy's jaw tightened. " _...No_. You don't say."

Gabe stood up, making the chair screech when he knocked it backwards. "I don't like that tone much," he said, chuckling when everyone stilled. "Just like you don't like keeping spare change. Hand it over."

When I counted to three, Percy only grinded his teeth in response. Gabe advanced forward. I snatched the notes hanging from Percy's pocket and flung it across the counter.

"For crying out loud, there!" I threw my hands up in the air. " _What does she see in you_ , really? Besides the fact you can impersonate a freaking walrus to perfection?"

As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted it. Yes, the face he pulled initially was priceless, but after? When the shock dispersed? Not that much fun to stare at.

Apparently handing over cash to the guy did not stop him from coming closer. For a huge guy like him, he moved damn quickly. Percy shoved me to move.

And that my friends is I found myself 'playing', a game of _run run run as fast as you can before the fat slob caught a hold of you._

"N-no wonder your mother ships you off every chance she gets," Gabe said, through laboured breaths. He leaned his hands on the counter and sneered. "Can't blame her, if this is how you treat the person who puts a roof over your ungrateful heads!"

My body vibrated with energy, beside me Percy's chest heaved. All went silent except for our breathing.

One of Gabe's friends, Edie splayed his cards on the table. "I think that's enough, Gabe."

"Is that right?" Gabe asked, not taking his eyes off of us. "I don't think the lesson has quite _sunk in_ yet. Has it, _Em-ma_?"

The front door swung open. In stepped mom and a squealing little girl who ran straight for my legs and hung on tight. Gabe straightened up and his friends tried hard to look normal-ish by carrying on their game, even Eddie.

"Emmy!" Jasmine hugged my legs tight, her hand grabbed the edge of Percy's shirt, dragging his upper body lower. "Mommy has brownies! _Hugggge_ ones."

Percy's face transformed into a giddy grin. "Really? That big?"

"Yeah!" she cheered, stepping away. She raised her hands. "Big like-like really big!"

"That sounds awesome," I said, surprisingly keeping my voice calm. I finally tore my gaze away from Gabe and saw Jasmine nodding her head, grinning widely up at me. I picked her up and placed her weight on my hip.

"Really awesome," she agreed.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

Mom raised her handbag and gave Percy a side hug. "They're right in here, come on, let's see what a state your rooms are already in."

Percy smiled sheepishly at the ground. "We should go into Emma's room," he suggested as we trailed after her and into his room. "Or not."

Gabe watched me until I was about to enter the room, the way he pronounced my name made a shiver run down my spine. I mouthed 'Walrus', before I slammed the door shut and noticed the bed was covered in magazines and the desk had a pile of sweet wrappings.

"Nice study," I commented, watching as mom shoved the magazines to the floor and urged for us to sit next to her.

"His maintenance is top job," Percy agreed, scowling at the boxes.

"Percy," she chided, smiling warmly. "Come sit. Tell me everything."

Once I placed Jasmine on the ground, she hauled herself up like a monkey and practically threw herself across our laps when we sat down. A large smile threatened to break out on her face but she held in until mom placed a brownie on her stomach and flicked her nose.

My eyes began to calm down from their waterworks but that did not stop that foul smell making my nose hurt from breathing. It was almost as bad as the guilt of ditching Grover and his panicked state. Although I did not exactly promise to stay, I did lie.

I wondered what Grover did after he found us gone. I came to the conclusion that he would have ran back off to the bathroom, his anxiety prompting his bladder to let go again.

"Emma?" mom's voice broke through the pounding within my ears.

She handed me a brownie and smiled, making me forget about my worries. "Thanks," I mumbled, tearing a piece and popped it into my mouth. "Mhm, that tastes like _heaven_."

"Em's hair is like Rapunzel," Jasmine said, giggling as she pawed at the tips of my hair.

"It is, isn't it?" mom agreed, glancing between us. "Even Percy's isn't far off," she joked, although her eyes said the next opportunity she got, the mop on Percy's head would be gone. "You've both grown so much since Christmas. So much."

"My hair isn't that long," Percy complained, rolling his eyes. When Jasmine tugged at it he scowled and grabbed the brownie, then he raised it out of her reach. "It isn't, all right, Jazz?"

Jasmine gave up trying to grab it and pouted. " _All-right_. Gimme the brownie."

We sat at the edge of the bed together as we attacked our brownies. Mom made us tell her stories, stories that we did not put in the letter. It basically consisted of how Grover always made things that much more awkward or funnily weird.

As we sat there I did not really think much of the expulsion. She did not mention it once. She played with my hair and ran through all the questions she already asked in the letters.

 _Did I make friends? Did I eat right? Did she need to fatten me up?_

"Hey, Sally!" Gabe yelled, ruining our moment. "How about some bean dip, eh?"

Mom let out the quietest of sighs and I gritted my teeth in response. I went to go do it so she would not have to, but she pulled me back down and shouted she would do it in a few minutes.

"No mom," I said, laughing as she asked about the assault. "I did not attack the girl, she just happened to be in the way of my book."

Her eyes twinkled a little as she tried not to laugh. "Oh, is that right?"

"Just like you didn't blow up that bus?" Percy interjected.

I stood up and placed a hand over my heart. "I feel so attacked right now," I said, pretending to frown. Jasmine just out right laughed, making me smile. "Besides, we already established that was not my fault."

I could not think of one without the other popping into my brain. Thoughts of Nancy always led back to the museum incident. That would automatically create an image of the lovely Mrs. Dodds.

What's worse than nightmares? Daydreams. Definitely daydreams of the woman-non-human _thing_.

"What?" my mom asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. Her eyes flickered between Percy and I, trying to break into my vault of secrets. "Did something scare you?"

Questions like that from always made me feel so helpless.

I tried to smile. "No, mom. Nothing scared me."

She pursed her lips. She always did that when she knew I lied. "I have a surprise for you," she said, surprising me that she did not question me further.

Jasmine sat up so she could kneel behind our mom. She wrapped her tiny hands around mom's neck. "Ooooh," she said, wiggling around. "What? More brownies?"

"No, little duck," mom replied, smiling fondly. "We're going to the beach."

Percy's eyes widened. "Montauk?"

"Three nights- same cabin."

"When?" I asked.

She smiled and unwrapped Jasmine's hands from around her. "Well, as soon as _this one_ gets cleaned up."

Percy and I shared a grin. Jasmine clung to mom like a koala, cheering as they went to leave the room. She spouted off as many questions as she could in the fifteen seconds of total and utter joy. Of course, all good things must come to an end at some point.

"Sally, it's been fifteen minutes." Gabe opened the door and stepped aside as mom went through. "Bean dip, now."

"Why don't you make it yourself?" I asked, shoving past him.

He grabbed my upper arm, keeping me in place. I shook him off and glanced over my shoulder just as Percy whispered something to Gabe, making his face take on a purple tint.

"It's okay, Emma. I'm doing it now," she said, placing Jasmine down on the couch. "We were just talking about the trip."

Gabe took a few heavy breaths, his normal colour returned. "The trip," he said, testing out the words. "You were serious."

"Of course she was serious," I quickly said, my patience growing thin. "Why bring it up at all if she's not serious?"

"Yes," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."

Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"

"Yes, honey," mom answered.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."

"We'll be very careful."

Gabe scratched his double chin. " _Maybe_ if you hurry with that seven-layer dip... And maybe if the kid- _Em-ma_ apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

My mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad. I could not help but scowl at the man. His beady eyes stared right into mine with a satisfied smirk.

He knew what mom wanted me to do. Why did she put up this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?

"...I'm sorry," I muttered, staring him right in the eye. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. I'm so sorry for giving you money to play the game. Hey, since it's over, why don't I get that back?"

Gabe's eyes narrowed. He did not seem to care too much about revealing how he steals from kids.

"Yeah, whatever," he decided, sitting down beside Jasmine.

"Thank you, Emma," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"

For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. Again.

It was like that a lot, seeing something than it vanishing, like it was never there in the first place. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.

An hour later we were ready to leave.

"It was mine," Percy said, too quietly for anyone else to hear but me. I smiled sarcastically at him. "Ten bucks. My ten bucks."

"Yeah, but did you pay him?" I asked, smiling a little. "What did you say to him, anyway?"

"Ah." He scratched the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly. "Nothing."

I blinked at him.

He continued to scratch. "Well, okay. You stole my money so I stole your insult."

"You called him a walrus," I said, rolling my eyes. "How original."

"Walrus?" Jasmine appeared out of nowhere, down below us.

Gabe's head shot up at the sound of Jasmine's voice. He took a break from watching TV, long enough to watch Percy lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch on this car," he warned Percy as he loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

"Sure," Percy agreed, rolling his eyes. "Like I'm driving, right?"

 _"Not. One. Scratch,"_ he growled. "You got that? Eh? You got it?"

Percy slammed the trunk shut. "Yes Gabe."

I watched as Gabe lumbered back toward the apartment building. He grinned at me, flashing the dollars in his hand. I clenched my hands by my side I did something I can't explain.

As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe.

The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon. It was just like blowing up the bus. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.

I got in the Camaro, feeling nervous and excited at the same time. "Step on it,"

Jasmine sat forward in her seat. "I want to see a purple walrus."

"Why?" mom asked.

"Cause." She shrugged. "I want to."


	6. Chapter 6

All thoughts of Grover, demonic creatures and the role Mr. Brunner might play in the apparent dangerous situation left my mind the closer we got to the cabin.

The sky turned a light shade of pink and orange, as the sun began to set. Mom played her favourite jazz music and the car ride was just so peaceful, lulling the us off into a peaceful sleep.

My shoulder became numb from leaning against the car door for too long. I went to rub my eyes but Jasmine's limp body curled up into my side made it hard to move either of my arms.

I moved my left from the side she lay as slowly as I could, but I still managed to wake her up.

"Are we there yet?" Jasmine asked through a yawn as soon as she woke up from her long slumber.

Percy's head slumped into his hands, groaning out a "Nooo."

Shrugging my shoulders, I agreed with Percy's assessment. "Please no, Jasmine. Don't start. It's funny in the movies, sure, but not right now. Please, no."

"Actually, look out the window and see for yourself," mom suggested, smiling at Jasmine through the car's mirror.

Jasmine squished her face against the glass of the window, making us all laugh. The cabin sat there, isolated on the tip of Long Island. After a patch of green land, the cabin stood before the long stretch of sand. It was worthy of being picture perfect.

The sea wore a dark blanket of blue, a blanket that had large crumples, moving largely across the ocean floor. Of course it was far too cold to swim in but that did not matter. It was not the sole purpose for going to the cabin.

"It's," she trailed off, struggling to find the proper word choice, "...old."

"It is," mom said, her shoulders relaxing against the car seat. "Emma and Percy have been here a lot since they were little ones. Now it's your turn, my baby. It hasn't changed a bit."

"I'm not a baby," Jasmine denied, crossing her arms as she moved back from the window.

"Sure you're not," I said, patting her shoulder condescendingly.

Percy grinned at Jasmine. "Yeah of course not. But still, it's your turn to enjoy the sand in the sheets and the spiders crawling out of the bathroom sink."

Jasmine's nose scrunched up in response. "Ew."

Mom parked the car and we all climbed out. We went through the same ritual of stretching our limbs after a long journey. The salty air was a breath of fresh air compared to the apartment's consistent smoky scent. The crashing of the waves against the shoreline made to be a soothing sound, much different to the rolling of vehicles' wheels.

Even if Percy's muscles were strained from carrying in luggage, his eyes were as bright as mom's and his smile was the most genuine it had been in a while.

Walking into the house, our hair whipped against the wind and not one goosebump appeared on our skin. Who could be bothered to complain about the cold?

"Okay, after you unpack, Percy open all the windows, Emma wipe off the surface dust in the bedrooms and..." Jasmine awaited her job with a pout. Mom went to leave the room. "Jasmine, come with me honey. _We'll_ get some food together. And some candy I brought from the store."

Jasmine skipped after her as soon as she said 'candy', leaving Percy and I to stand there, having a stare off.

"So you're gathering the spiders and I'm forming their escape route," Percy said, dragging his suitcase behind him up the stairs. "That's that settled."

I shuddered at the thought of their long legs. "No it's not _settled_. I'm not doing that."

"Uh, yeah you are," he said, tossing his bag into his room.

"...Fine it's settled alright," I muttered, going into my own room. "Because I'm not bloody doing it."

"What was that?"

I poked my head out of my room. "Nothing!"

Percy opened the windows around the cabin and yelled for me to come up to his room a few minutes later. Then we fought over who would remove the big ass spider from on top of his pillow.

Our screeches and raised voices made Jasmine tumble into the room as per mom's request. She ended up being the one to toss it out of the window.

We walked along the beach with mom carrying a picnic basic. Seagulls swarmed around us every time Jasmine dropped a blue corn chip on the ground for them to eat, although she protested every time, saying she did not do it.

"Jelly bean, please," Jasmine requested, walking up beside me.

I stopped walking and grabbed a handful of the blue jelly beans from Percy's hand before he gave them away, then grinned. "You can only eat them if you catch them in your mouth."

"Okay," she agreed and walked back a yard or two after I motioned her to.

"Ready?" Percy asked. He studied her for a second. "Bend your knees."

"Yeah, I'm ready," she said, opening her mouth.

I picked up a single jelly bean and closed my eyes at the taste.

"Okay... here goes," Percy muttered, tossing it.

The jelly bean flew through the air but by their shocked expressions, I seemed to appear out of nowhere, I jumped across the line of fire and snatched the jelly bean with my hand. I quickly tossed it into my mouth and before they could say anything, I jogged ahead toward the camp site.

"My jelly bean," Jasmine shouted pitifully, running after me. "She stole it."

"Yeah, she's a thief," Percy called after her. "Go and get her."

We lounged around the fire mom had made and scarfed down all the blue foods mom managed to acquire from where she worked at the candy shop. Of course, with there being a fire we had to roast some hot dogs and marshmallows, otherwise what a useless experience it would be.

Shadows flickered across our faces as we told stories. We did not go through old horror tales, but instead stories of our past, starting with mom. She told us stories of when she was a child and the memories she had with her parents before they died in the plane crash. She showed us some scribbles of the ideas she'd like to write about one day.

Percy and I ratted each other out with stories that we were supposed to have kept to ourselves, but all the incidents did not seem to surprise our mom.

Jasmine just told us of how her best friend Beth did not play the princess game right. Apparently tea cups were not allowed to have water in them.

Every time we went to Montauk, everyone became relaxed. It was like our personalities were cooped up until we got there. Mom's eyes would become misty and she would go through moments at a time, withdrawn from the conversation as though she lived through memories. That's how I came to the conclusion that this place held a very special place in her heart, a place clearly shared by Percy and mine's father.

"Want to try catching them again?" Percy asked, gathering some jelly beans in his hand.

Jasmine nodded, albeit tiredly. "Em, stay there," she grumbled, standing up. After wiping her dress she looked at me. "I want to catch them this time."

I was huddled up in a massive blanket anyway so I waved them off. Mom and I stayed there, watching them for a while until she opened her leather journal and wrote in there for a while.

"What was dad like?" I asked after ten minutes went by. I was proud of myself, I lasted that long without asking questions about him.

It was like she expected me to ask that because she snapped her journal shut. And as usual, the answer was vague. "He was kind, Emma. Tall, ever so handsome and powerful. Not too powerful not to be gentle too. You have his eyes," she told me, glancing back at Percy. "He has his hair."

Her eyes were clouded over as she spoke of him. She wore that special smile, only reserved for the thought of him.

It was hard to believe that a love so pure could exist. Seeing her that way, then at home in the apartment was almost heart breaking. She deserved the prince she described. She deserved so much better than Gabe.

"I'm sure you're a little biased," I teased.

Mom fished a jelly bean out of her candy bag with an impish grin. "Maybe," she admitted. "I wish he could see you now, Emma. He would be so proud."

Her biased opinion of people came ringing true. _Proud_ , to be proud a person you loved must have done something to earn the meaning behind that word, but I did not. I got expelled out of most of my schools, I was a tad temperamental and most definitely impulsive. My grades? Let's not get into that. So yeah, mother dearest was biased.

"How old were we?" I gestured toward Percy. "When he left?"

She watched the flames. "He didn't leave as abruptly as you say. He was lost at sea," she said, frowning ever so slightly. "He was only with me for one summer, Emma. Right here at this beach. This cabin."

I shook my head as the truth sunk in. We never discussed it in such detail. But, of course how much detail could there be in a summer romance? I could not shake the feeling of a glowing smile when I was younger. Although maybe it was a figment of my imagination, just like when I thought I witnessed Santa Claus rocketing across the sky.

Just because I believed it to be the truth, did not mean it was the truth.

I could only imagine how my mother felt. She loved him. I did not know him yet I resented him. Again, she deserved the world, and Gabe was not even a scratch on top of the surface.

"So what's next?" I asked, changing the subject. "What boarding school are we off to next?"

Her eyes snapped to mine, probably because my sharp tone. "I don't know, honey." She closed her eyes and waited three breaths to open them. "Don't worry, we're not out of options. We'll think of something."

"Why? I don't get why we're being sent off all of the time. It's draining your money," I said, almost regretting my words, but I charged forward. "I can only think of one good reason, and it's not a good one."

Regret leaned heavily against my chest as mom's eyes began to tear up. "I-" She took my hand in hers. "Oh, Em- _no_ , Emma. It's, I don't want to, but I have to, for your own safety. I have to send you both away."

"Why?" I asked, watching a tear drop trail down her cheek. It was almost like she said I did not fit in with her family. Like I did not fit in with Yancy. "I've heard it before. I'm not _normal_."

Her lip quivered. "Don't say it like it's a bad thing, Emma. It truly isn't. If only you realised how special you are. I thought Yancy would be far enough aware, I thought it would be the final stop. I thought it would be safe."

The ball-like feeling came back in my throat. It was like red and blue lights flashed before my eyes, warning me not to pursue the conversation.

However, once I got my teeth in something, I became persistent and consistent in trying to obtain that knowledge.

Still, I hesitated. "Safe from what?"

She did not even need to answer. My own subconscious answered the question in the most vague manner. A flood of memories, memories I clearly suppressed for a _reason_ came back. Memories that had no logical explanation.

At a young age, Percy and I swung on some swings. We took turns in pushing each other. We were interrupted by a man in a black trench coat. He stared at us and went away, only to appear everywhere we went. When he finally went away after the school threatened to call the police, no one believed me when I pointed out the fact he had only one freaking eye.

Percy believed me. But, then again he believed the Loch Ness monster lived under our bath.

Of course during nap time even earlier than that incident we were forced to take a nap. I adored naptimes, but Percy refused to sleep. When I woke up, a snake had slithered into my space and Percy messed around with it, whacking its head back and forth. I remember mom's screech.

Thinking back on the school's we attended, there was always something dangerous that happened. Sometimes by my own cause, sometimes just freak accidents.

I thought about Yancy academy. I got kicked out, although that did not stop Mrs. Dodds from turning into some demonic monster, nor did it stop three ladies apparently signalling the end of my living days.

The wind started to pick up. "I don't think I want to know," I said quietly, but the wind carried my voice away.

"I just wanted you to be safe and as close to me as possible," she said, her bottom lip trembling. "I couldn't consider the other option, not what your father wanted, where he wanted to send you. No, I couldn't do that."

The blanket fell to the side, allowing my hand to grab hers. "Where did he want to send me? Us?"

"It's not what you're thinking." She blinked her eyes at tilted her head back. "We shouldn't be having this conversation, not without Percy, at least."

"Mom..." I said softly, trying to keep my calm. "Tell me. Where did he say?"

"It's not a school, not another boarding school, Emma," she answered, now watching Percy as he knelt to the ground along the shoreline. "A summer camp."

I let that hang in the air for a good two seconds before admitting, "I don't understand... People don't talk about that stuff that early on. Mom?"

Her body moved away, letting my hand drop. A chilling wind made me tuck it back under the blanket. I could not see her face but her body posture told me enough. Pushing her would not be a good idea, not then at least.

"I'm sorry, Emma," she said, glancing at me for only a second. "It's not right. I can't send you there. You and Percy deserve a much better life than that."

"It's a summer camp mom." I'll admit my laughter might have turned hysterical. "What's so bad about that?"

"I can't..." mom choked out. "Let's not talk about it anymore. Don't mention it to your brother, please. Not yet."

Nodding my head in agreement, I turned away. The relief she felt was palpable. Her entire body sagged, as though defeated, like she had come to terms with something a long time coming.

Both Percy and Jasmine squatted by the shoreline, close together, peering at something. They jumped a fraction every couple of seconds, like they were on edge or something.

The moment Jasmine turned around, I just knew what ever she had planned, she would get her way. Her eyes sparkled with some sort of a mix between adoration and determination.

She strutted our way. By this time we were packing up silently. Percy lumbered behind her with his hands cupped together.

"I thought you would have wasted all the jelly beans by now," I took up the conversation, as mom started to put out the fire.

"Are you questioning her skills, Emma?" Percy asked, smiling lopsidedly.

"Maybe, I mean, did she catch any?"

"Yeah! Loads! Tommy said I was _awe_ -some," Jasmine said nonchalantly, shrugging her little shoulders like the argument was settled.

My eyebrows furrowed as I glanced around. "Tommy..." I questioned, not seeing anyone else, just like I expected. "Oh." I came to a realisation and asked Percy quietly, "An imaginary friend?"

"Not exactly," Percy answered, turning his body away from me.

"Imani-" Jasmine stumbled over the word. "Tommy's real, Emma. I think you hurt his feelings."

Her eyes shone with sincerity as she said that, believing what she said to be the entire truth and nothing but the truth.

I let out an awkward cough and picked out a random spot next to her to stare at. Once I was confident that I would not break out into a random laughing fit I squeezed her hand.

"Right," I said, biting my lower lip. "I'm sorry, Tommy. I didn't realise how insensitive that would sound."

"What is she doing?" Jasmine whispered, looking to Percy with a queer look.

Percy looked just as confused. "I don't know..."

I raised an eyebrow, as if saying _duh_. "Isn't it obvious? I'm apologising to Tommy?"

Jasmine and Percy both shared a look and both burst out into laughter, gaining mom's attention. The forlorn expression that I indirectly caused faded away from her eyes and was replaced by a never ending fondness for her children's laughter.

It made my heart break a little.

They cracked up even more when they noticed the expression transition into one of confusion.

"Tommy's there, silly," Jasmine told me, pointing toward the turtle sat on Percy's palms. "He's not mad anymore."

Mom uttered out a simple, "No."

When the sky took on a more harsh look, mom got us to gather everything before we went back to the cabin. Further on in the evening, the wind picked up and a howl echoed throughout the house. Beneath the covers of the scratchy sheets provided warmth, a protection against the wind, allowing me to fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Behind the pale curtains and outside my window, sand whipped around in a circle, it raised up into the air forming a sand storm. Two silhouettes were trapped inside, one planted firmly on the ground and the other circled the air in between the wet sanded barrier.

The dripping sand dried out the longer it stayed in the wind storm, making the sand turn into a see through yellow dust. The smaller dark figure from the air, turned out to be a golden eagle, a similar colour to the dust. It flanked and whipped a long claw against the horse's snout.

At the neigh that whimpered, a drawn out tremble of the ground broke loose, followed by a low pleased rumble when the eagle's wings were caught off guard by a swift kick to the side. The eagles eyes became sharper at the sound and the fight continued.

Somehow I stood before the wind's flying sand with my hand about to reach in before the eagle poked an eye out with those stupid claws.

Then I woke with a start. "The hell?"

Now that was exactly what I expected to happen with the Mrs. Dodds nonsense.

I peeked through the curtain and although the sand stayed firmly on the ground, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracked trees and blew down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves collapsing with harsh slaps.

With the next thunderclap, my mom burst into my room with Jasmine on her hip, her small hands curled around mom's neck. "Emma, up out of bed. Get Percy. Hurricane."

I knew that was crazy. Her wide eyes told the truth, but it was still crazy. Long Island never saw hurricanes this early in the summer. Except it did then, an unpleasant sinking feeling immersed itself in my stomach.

Crazy appeared to follow me everywhere.

When I attempted to shake him awake, Percy grumbled something along the lines of 'take that Trump', but I was too busy trying to hear past the storm. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.

"Get up," I hissed, pulling the covers off of him, making his eyes snap open. "Come on, Percy. Get the hell up, already."

That seemed to get him into action, because a second later he was up and wide awake.

"What's happening? What's wrong?" He looked me up and down, as though to check to see if I were injured or not. "What is it?"

"Hurricane."

He nodded like he understood but his eyes were perplexed. He drew back the curtains and his mouth gaped open. He checked to see if the top window was closed and exhaled in relief when it was.

Then a much closer noise, like large hailstones slamming the windows happened. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

"You heard that, right?" Percy asked, already walking out of his room. "Should we open it?"

"You know how we discussed that if The Purge became real and people cried out for help that it would be just a trick?" I asked him.

He nodded his head slowly and made an 'O' shape with his mouth. "Right. We can't trust anyone outside of the family, with no exceptions."

"Yeah. Good job, you remembered," I said, looking at the door. "It's not The Purge so it's probably not a trick, loser."

My mother sprang out of the kitchen in her nightgown and before she could throw open the lock, she carefully placed Jasmine in Percy's hold. A blanket covered her body, keeping her warm and cosy. Also, she was mostly asleep.

The next thing I knew, Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he was not exactly Grover. Not the one I knew, any way.

I nearly tripped over my feet as I rounded backwards. "What the _hell_?"

"Searching all night," he gasped, ignoring me but looking toward mom. Then he finally turned toward me, his eyes wild. "What were you thinking?"

Mom looked at me in terror—not scared of _Grover_ , in the least but what he had directed toward me. Percy stared at me, confused, having not noticed Grover's, uh, additional body hair, but unwilling to voice his concerns. Jasmine looked scared, making a me swallow hard.

"Emma," mom said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you _tell_ me?"

I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing. "What?" The pitch of my voice raised. "Are we not seeing the same thing here? Are we going to completely ignore this? I mean come bloody on! Look at him!"

Percy looked ready to pass out when he finally glanced at his best friend.

 _"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!"_ Grover yelled, steadying Percy by gripping his arm. "It's right behind me! Didn't you _tell_ her?"

I was too shocked to answer straight away, my eyes strayed toward his legs. I was also too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. How did he know we were here? Because Grover didn't have his pants on—and where his legs should be...where his legs should be...

And he did not used his phone.

I did not handle serious or stressful situations well.

Hence why I blew a wolf whistle, my eyes not moving from his bare legs.

At the disgruntled faces I got in return, I knew they did not appreciate my awesome sense of humour...and deflection.

"Grover...Ancient Greek...Bad dream, very weird dream, bad?" Percy mumbled to himself.

My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: " _Emma. Be serious._ Tell me _now_!"

I stammered. How could I not? "Um, some old ladies at the fruit stand cut some yarn and apparently that means I'm going to die? Oh, and what else? Right. Mrs. Dodds kinda got stabbed by a pen? Accidently kind of. Maybe?"

"What do you mean stabbed?" Percy asked, his eyes wide. "How can you die from a pen? Unless you got stabbed a fair few times...did you murder someone?"

"No!" I yelped, then blinked a few times at the silence. "I mean, yes? I don't know! Maybe!"

"Okay. Bad dream it is then," Percy muttered.

And my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Carry Jasmine to the car. All of you, _go_!"

Grover ran for the car but he did not run, exactly. He trotted, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.

Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.

"We couldn't keep Tommy but we have a goat?" Jasmine asked after a few minutes of tense silence. "That's mean, mommy."

Then I laughed, and laughed and laughed.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Soon after Jasmine complained of that fact that turtles would certainly be easy to take care of rather than a 'smelly goat', she fell fast asleep. The same could not be said for the rest of us, who stared blankly into space with stiff limbs.

The weather only increased in its destructive nature. If the doors were not locked, they would be either easily ripped off or kept steady against the car with the noisy pressure pushing endlessly. Too many to count raindrops raced down the windows' glass, clear to see against the dark night's sky.

Mom's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she drove. I sat in the passenger seat and I could hardly see a thing, so I wondered how she could drive with such confidence.

"I'm take it you lied to me then," Percy said, his eyes train on mine through the mirror.

My fingers were tempted to snap it shut. "...Yeah, about that,"

"I should have guessed," Percy admitted, sounding way too tired to become mad. He slouched. "Why the hell did I believe Grover knew how to use a stupid phone?"

"See, now _that's_ a good question," Grover grumbled, shooting us both a glare that appeared half hearted if anything.

"I'll admit, I could have done better," I said.

A second later, a flash of lightening struck. The light that came with it reflected over Grover who sat on the other side of Jasmine. His knees, or whatever they were bopped up and down. His furry legs did not scare Jasmine in the least, she fell asleep without a care.

I remembered a school Christmas play, where an artistic kid's mom had put together a donkey suit that actually looked realistic, in its fur and smell. Grover's lower part of his body, well it reminded me of that. He smelled exactly like wool. Wet wool.

There was no denying that it was real, even if it looked like a poorly manufactured movie costume.

"No, a good question would be what the hell are we running away from? But no one seems to want to keep me in the loop," Percy snapped and looked like he instantly regretted it when Jasmine shifted.

Grover's eyes dropped to his lap, looking as guilty as I felt.

"To be fair, I'm probably as confused as you are," I offered to placate him a little. I looked to Grover. "So, any more secrets? Want to tell us how you know our mom?"

"Emma," mom warned, her voice shaking. "Don't start."

"I'm not starting anything, mom," I said, trying to keep as calm. "I'm just asking should I be expecting any more surprises? Like, will I spurt some fur? Turn into a werewolf, perhaps?"

Again, if the glare I got in return was anything to go by, humour was not the way to go.

"No, it's okay," Grover said, tearing his gaze from out the window to me. "No, I don't know her, not exactly. We knew of each other. She knew I attended Nancy Acedemy, watching you guys."

"Well that doesn't sound creepy at all." I blinked. "Watching? You mean you were stalking me? Supernatural _Pretty Little Liars_? Why us? Why?"

"...I don't think he has any good blackmail material," Percy said, eyeing Grover suspiciously. "Do you?"

Grover gave me a reaction I found to be quite normal and even comforting. He blushed. "I- no. Not stalking! I swear! I was just watching out...making sure you guys were okay."

"Um. Okay." Percy fidgeted with his finger nails accepting the answer easily. "What _are_ you then?"

Grover looked at Percy, pleadingly. "I wasn't faking being your friend, Percy. I promise, I _am_ your friend, to both of you."

I stifled a laugh at Percy's sigh of frustration. "I don't think that's what he meant, but that's nice to know. Very reassuring."

"Oh." Grover looked to mom for help, but she kept her eyes trained on the road. "Well, that doesn't matter right now. We've got more important matters-"

"-That you won't talk about either," I pointed out, scowling a little at all the secrets. There were just so many.

"How can you say it doesn't matter?" Percy's eyes widened as he gestured toward his friend's lower region. "From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey!"

I slapped a hand over my mouth as Grover let out a throaty noise that sounded way too much like bleating to me.

Again, such a familiar sound and unusual sound. In that moment I felt so stupid. Had I just ignored all that weird things in my life? Justified them to make myself believe in what is assumed to be normality? So, so, very stupid.

Grover did not make that sound as a show of nervousness. It was a good, hefty bleating noise of irritation.

"A turtle would be quiet," Jasmine mumbled sleepily, snuggling into Percy's side.

Grover made the sound again, his eyes wild. "Goat!"

"What?" Percy jumped.

"I'm a goat from the waist down," he cried, shifting in his seat. "How can you even say that? A donkey? What an insult!"

"...Wow, Jasmine was right," I said, grinning a little at the now asleep girl. "How astute of her."

I did not miss the way mom's hands became white with how hard she gripped the steering wheel. Suddenly it made sense, why she sent Percy and I away. It clicked and for a moment, I wish it had not. Grover said we were in danger and that meant we were not safe to be around.

No wonder she sent us off, far away from Jasmine.

I felt guilty, so guilty that my vision became blurry. I looked out of the window, as if I could actually see anything out there. I just needed time for the water to eventually rid itself. I could not cry, not in front of everyone.

Percy shrugged helplessly, grimacing at Grover's legs. "You just said it didn't matter."

"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover took deep breath. "It didn't matter, not until you insulted me! Other satyrs would trample you without much remorse for that mockery!"

"Mockery?" Percy backed up a little. "I'm sorry?"

"Finally some answers!" I twisted around in my seat, forgetting about my tears and looked to Grover. "Satyrs. They're real? Mr. Brunner's myths are real?"

"Of course they are!" cried Grover, looking offended that I would even ask such a question.

"But that defeats the purpose of the word myth..." Percy muttered.

"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

Percy shook his head, seeming to take what Grover had said.

"Ah ha!" I did not feel embarrassed by the little cheer I let out. "So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"

Then of course, a second thing hit me.

Percy's face, it held no surprise at the mention of Mrs. Dodds. Instead, he recoiled at the thought of her. At the brief moment of silence, he seemed to get that too because his eyes whipped over to mine.

Grover, not knowing about the new tension said, "Of course!"

"Hold up a minute. We've got ourselves another liar amongst us, how unsurprising," I said, barely holding back a growl. "Don't be shy, now, everyone else has revealed their hidden truths."

"I didn't get mad at you, Emma," Percy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Did my lie make you think you were crazy for months on end?"

"Well- no, but-"

Grover coughed loudly. "Man, shut up."

Percy snapped his mouth shut, pursing his lips.

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "I didn't realise he knew. We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."

"Apparently he's a great actor," I muttered, earning a glare from Percy. "Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean? You said I wouldn't turn into a werewolf and by that I meant anything related to supernatural crap! Is the moon out? Oh. My. God."

"Emma," Grover called for my attention.

I held up my hand, panicking a little. "Are my nails longer or is that just me?"

"I mean, they're long," Grover admitted "But-"

"I watch _Teen Wolf_ you know, I got some experience with this whole thing basically, right? Like, I'm better off than most people?"

The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail. Percy held out his own hands to inspect them, getting a slap from Grover.

"Emma," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. Please calm down, honey. We have to get you both to safety."

"Safety from what?" Percy asked, sensing the urgency. "Who's after me?"

"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions. No biggie, clearly. I mean, a pen blasted one to smithereens. You're all good!"

"Grover!" mom yelled.

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson," he apologised sincerely. He turned to Percy. "I just don't get why all the blame is on Emma. Percy should have said something, we wouldn't have left it this long! Could you drive faster, please?"

I rested my face in my hands. "I don't want to be a werewolf. Shaving would be a nightmare and I'm just not ready for that type of commitment."

"You're not a werewolf!" Grover shouted.

Somewhere between the accusing tones, panicked words and shouting Jasmine had woken up. Her dainty hands pushed her up so her head leaned forward between the passenger and driver's seat.

"You're a wizard, Emma,"

"She's a what?" Grover spluttered. "Jasmine, no, she's not."

And for the second time, Jasmine made me laugh hysterically.


	8. Chapter 8

**adiamusGEN Thanks for reading! It's just a fun project, nothing serious xD**

So the car journey continued. It would certainly be the most memorable car trip I would ever have. What had been established in my panicked state? Well, I was not a werewolf, a wizard nor was I a witch. At least that was something, right?

I tried to calm myself down by counting out what I knew was for definite.

 _1\. I killed Mrs. Dodds._

 _2\. Grover was a satyr._

 _3\. Percy literally drove me crazy._

 _4\. Jasmine needed to get away from me to stay safe._

 _5\. I might have been going into the witness protection programme for the supernatural even though I was not a witch, wizard or werewolf which really narrows things down._

My family and Grover looked at me like _I_ was the crazy one. For some reason they stayed quiet, allowing me to waste energy on my silent laughter, that made my whole body shake.

They were probably confused by my trembling as I counted my fingers, but who cared? I could breathe a little easier. Things became more clear in my mind. It was probably the first time in months that I had proper clarity, that I grasped reality in its fullest form.

My emotions were all over the place, but the one feeling that made me want to throw myself out of the car was the one where I was being watched. I detested when people stared at me longer than two seconds, unless it was a battle of the non-blinking.

Even if my neck rested against the back of my chair, I felt a hot, piercing tingling residing there, burning up every few seconds only to get lost a second later, like the culprit could not quite focus enough to keep me in their sights.

Percy whacked the back of my chair with an open palm. "Emma, stop being so bloody hysterical."

"Oh, no. I'm not hysterical," I denied, stretching my arms wide. "I'm welcoming death with open arms. Why? Because some old ladies cut yarn. Why argue with what's set in stone. My headstone."

"Please," Percy scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Don't try to make everyday activities symbols of something so _morbid_. That's so typical of you, Emma."

I exhaled and gestured toward Grover lazily. "Too late, Percy. Pay attention."

The satyr's face went unnaturally pale and his teeth chattered. This was not due to the cold. Gabe's car had a killer heating system blasting through the vents. His adam's apple sunk and rose, looking like he held back a bleat to the best of his ability.

I knew by Percy's hands clenching and unclenching that I was on some level being reasonable.

"They weren't just any old, uh, old ladies," Grover said, avoiding everyone's eyes. "They were the Fates."

"And you know what fate means," I said casually, making Percy look at me. "Events outside of a person's control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power. Apparently my death's destined to happen. What a vision, huh?"

Percy shook his head. "Yeah, they're the Fates. Cool. But that doesn't mean you're going to _die_. Why jump to the worst conclusion?"

"Fine, I won't." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Let Grover tell me otherwise, then I'll be so optimistic that sunshine will glow out of my eyeballs."

"That would be pretty," Jasmine commented, her voice light.

Her quiet voice made our bodies jerk in response. Grover looked relieved, his body sunk into his chair, probably thinking since the reminder that a six year old sat with us, the conversation would be dropped.

That was so not happening, not if I had anything to do with it.

Besides, Percy looked worried about the answer. Even if he did not want the answer, the not knowing would eat him up and eventually he would burst.

I unwrapped my red rain jacket from my body and twisted as far as the seatbelt would allow me. I quickly unbuckled it and threw it over Jasmine's body. Instantly she curled up beneath and it let out a quiet sigh.

"Yeah it would be pretty," I agreed, talking softly. "Sleep, Jazz."

She mumbled, "Okay."

Percy made sure the blanket was tucked underneath and and splayed the jacket on properly. Her eyes closed shut and after two minutes and forty two seconds, her breathing evened out, letting us know she entered the realm of dreams.

"So, will I be pretty or not, Grover?"

He shuffled in his seat. "Don't freak out, okay? They only appear in front of you when you're about to...when someone's about to die."

"I'm hideous then," I said monotonously. "No sunshine for me, considering I'll be ten feet under anyway."

"Whoa," Percy's eyes held a fear in them. "You said 'you.' What the hell? Emma's overdramatic, so that means most of the time she is always severely wrong. She can't die. That's the biggest drama queen statement of all!"

" _You_ can be used as a general term. A plural term," Grover quickly responded, the spot beneath his eye twitching.

"...Like that sounds better," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Plural as in, Emma _and_ me?!"

"Details, details," Grover said, waving a hand carelessly. "Look, I get it. You're scared. But, we're going somewhere safe. We're going to," after getting a look from mom he hesitated, "that summer camp your mom probably told you about."

Before we could comment on Grover's lack of details regarding our impending death, the car swerved a hard right, making me wince at the impact of my shoulder against the door. Blinking to regain my composure, I noticed a figure standing in the middle of the road behind us, basking the storm's glory.

Mom did not even glanced in her rear-view mirror, she even placed her foot more firmly down on the pedal, making the car peek up in speed. The wind's howl became stronger, angrier than before making it hard to hear the other's speak.

"What is that guy? Suicidal?" I frowned, noticing when I looked back the figure has vanished.

Percy turned around so he could look out the back window. "What are you talking about? No one's there."

"Yeah, you don't actually believe that you can make me feel crazy again?" I scoffed, looking straight ahead. "It's not funny, Percy. Pranks are one thing, this is borderline sociopathic."

"I never said it was funny," he replied, his face hard, probably not appreciating the fact I called him out on his behaviour in front of mom. "How much longer, mom?"

"We're almost there now," she answered, her hands now shaking, probably from the near accident. "Just another mile. Please. Please. Please."

Mom's impatience was infectious. I leaned forward, waiting to see any sign of life, our safe haven, apparently. There was no lights or buildings in the immediate area. There was nothing but the pitch black of night, the roaring wind and pelting rain.

I found myself thinking of the summer camp that we were going to for safety. Realising this was all real, probably for the hundredth time that car ride, my body went rigid.

If my hallucinations were not actually that, it meant that I had come close to death's call numerous times, the time that stood out amongst those was Mrs. Dodds and her talons that aimed to rip my throat out. I was lucky Mr. Brunner tossed me that sword-pen device. Mrs. Dodds, my demonic teacher aimed to execute me, but another teacher intercepted.

That other teacher apparently knew of Mrs. Dodds demonic tendencies.

It somewhat explained his fascination for weapons.

I briefly wondered if Mr. Nicolls would pop out of nowhere, claiming to want to suck my blood or something. Nothing would have surprised me at that point.

Lost in my thoughts, I did not notice the blinding flash until it was too late. The car exploded and my body lurched out of the front window, a resounding crash against the glass echoed before I landed twenty feet from the car.

Everything went black and soundless.

When I pried my eyelids open, I saw Gabe's car upside down with fire on the road beside it.

"Mom?" I coughed, my throat barely dry. "Mom?!"

I managed to slump over to the car, ignoring the shrill high pitched noise vibrating from within my ears. I held myself up against the tire before ducking down.

"Emma!" mom shouted, managing to make it out of the car. Her eyes flashed with fear. "Percy! Jasmine!"

"I'm out, I'm here," I called to her, making her sigh in relief. "They're here. They're...okay. They're fine."

Percy let out a groan, his hand hung out of the window. I perched down on my knees just as Percy made Jasmine crawl out of it, using her sleeves to avoid cutting her hands.

Mom pulled Jasmine's body up from the ground and hugged her fiercely. I tugged Percy out of the window, trying to ignore the hiss of pain when he slit his hand on the glass. He stood up with my red rain jacket in his hand and wobbled a little and closed his eyes.

"You okay?" I asked, watching him as he straightened up.

"Yeah..." He handed the jacket to mom who made Jasmine put it on. "Just a little dizzy. I'm fine."

I nodded and shook off my daze. I looked up to the sky. "Suck on that, Fate."

Then of course, another groan came from the car. I quickly shook off my daze and ignored the fact that the fire came close to the already halfway exploded car and rounded to the other side.

My heart rate sky-rocketed at the pool of blood and a motionless body.

"Grover," I yelped, reaching in to cup his face. "Dude, you can't just die. I mean, you're a bloody goat! Like a were-goat or something. I should just shove some grass in your face, huh? Make you heal faster or something? You're my best friend so you need to get the hell up."

Sometimes my hands have a mind of their own.

I might have slapped my best friend in the face.

Then he groaned, "Cake," making my eyes shoot daggers at him. "Chocolate cake."

"I got all freaking emotional for nothing," I muttered. "Come on, up, then we'll get the biggest goat friendly chocolate cake there is."

"Emma," mom said, catching my arm in her hand. "We have to go, now."

My eyes landed on Grover. "Okay, just let me get him out first."

Mom disagreed and yanked my hand so I stood up. Before I could say anything, a flash of lightening struck the nearest tree, making it fall less than gracefully to the ground with a thud that created a vibration beneath my feet.

The sound of the same thud and the exact same vibration continued. I whipped my head around but no more trees fell.

The large figure I assumed I saw earlier, the suicidal one, strode toward us with confidence oozing from him with his chin tipped upwards. The dark silhouette stared at me, I knew this because the annoying tingling sensation came back on the surface of my neck.

"Jasmine, come here, darling," mom said, grabbing her hand. "Stay close."

"Mommy?"

Another thud made Percy stand beside us. Together we saw the figure as another flash of lightening lit up the darkness around him, allowing us to see his true body. What appeared to be an admittedly large man turned out to be a false assumption on my part.

Yes, his bulky chest that heaved violently was of a man, but it was beyond hairy and brown. His hands were large. Don't even get me started on the fact the dude had a face, feet and even a bloody tail of a _bull_.

"Do we attract farm yard animals?" I asked, again getting glares from Percy and mom. I only said it to get a rise out of Grover. But, he was kinda passed out. "It's a legitimate question."

"Emma," mom said, deadly serious. "Percy. You need to leave. Do you see that big tree?"

Percy could not keep his eyes away from the incoming thing. "What even is that?"

"Yeah," I said, glancing only a second at the tree, "but-"

Another flash of lightning distracted me. I saw the tree clearly, on top of the nearest hill.

"That's the property line. Over the hill is a farmhouse. Run. Yell for help. Don't you dare stop until you both get there."

My mother, ever the fearless person when it came down to the big things, pushed me in the right direction. She kept her eyes trained on the beast. Clearly she did not plan to move an inch and that was not acceptable.

I could handle most things, but her staying behind? Nah. She had to be bonkers if she thought I would just _go_.

"Mom, you're coming too," I said, straightening my back. Her hands came to push again but I simply dodged. "Help me get Grover, first Percy keep Jasmine by your side."

The beast...thing...man? I did not have time to presume his entire _being_ because it came closer and closer, grunting each step like a cave man. Its breaths came out in short snorts, like it could not wait to just let loose with the noise but it was holding itself back for some reason.

The closer it came, the more clearly I could see it. Its hands swung by its side, its rather larger than human arms. By that I mean my entire body could fit twice against this biceps.

I did not know what I found more scary. The fact that this thing also had horns the size of Antarctica or that fact that I was about to face off with some sort of beast with the knowledge that it was not a dream this time around.

Probably the horns. They looked extremely uh, pointed.

"He doesn't want us," mom said, squeezing my hand tightly. "He wants you and Percy. I can't cross the property line."

"What do you mean you _can't_ cross? Who cares if it's a restricted bloody club! They can't be that self-absorbed."

"We don't have time, Emma. Go. Please."

It was like the -what I decided to call- bull purposely walked to us slowly, like it anticipated the more drawn out it was, the more fun the kill would be.

"Were-goats, were-bulls, demonic teachers," I mumbled, heading toward Grover. "Lightning might as well strike me now."

"Honey," mom said, her eyes wide. "Please, I've told you-"

"Mom, I'm getting Grover. Then we're going."

I did not wait for her. I bent down and ignored the liquid that went down my eyes. Because if I were to acknowledge the red liquid that would mean acknowledging the pain I was in, and sometimes, mental strength was all you needed to get the hell over it and do a job. To hell with physical strength.

Surprisingly, Grover came out of the car quite easily. Getting him up and walking on the other hand was a different story.

Percy did not mutter a word but walked alongside us with Jasmine in his arms as mom and I dragged Grover up the hill, walking more slowly than the bull.

The sound of breathing and the muscle pain in my legs was forgotten about. I pretended that the bull was in front of me and picked out the details that horrified me most. Like his huge ass muscles, his dead black eyes and snorting nostrils.

An image of Mr. Brunner's books popped into my head. A few pages flipped over and bam!

Knowledge coursed through my brain.

"Wow," I murmured, it finally clicking. "That's-"

"Not a name you want to say," mom interrupted, wiping a raindrop from her eyelash. "Pasiphae's son."

I glanced behind me, I noticed that we were not exactly being followed directly. Instead, the Minotaur sniffed around our car. Its hands used the tire to lean itself against it, just like I had. The only difference was, my hands did not pop the freaking tire.

"...Cake."

"Grover, get your priorities straight." I shushed him and turned to mom. "He can't see us, can he? Just like Percy couldn't see him earlier, apparently."

"I really didn't," Percy muttered, shooting me a frown. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? About the Mrs. Dodds thing. I freaked out."

"How do you think I felt?" I rolled my eyes. "Like I was going to Disneyland?"

He was about to respond but Gabe's Camaro flew over our heads, ablaze and crashed into one of the trees, resulting in a familiar thud. Then a few seconds later, one by one tires flew over our heads as well almost comically rolling back down the hill again despite its inflated rubber.

"Um." Percy struggled to say anything else.

"I think we actually have more important matters to worry about, Percy."

"He goes by smell," mom said. "When he finally figures out where we are he will charge. Wait until the last second and jump out of the way. The pace he runs won't let him change directions quickly, that's his weakness."

Percy gripped Jasmine's body closer to him. "Okay. Got it."

I watched as the Minotaur roared, looking frustrated as hell.

"Mom..." I figured we had time as we continued walking. I wanted a distraction. "You seem to know a lot about uh, this stuff."

"I told you, Emma, I wanted you and Percy by my side as along as possible," she said, grunting a little. "For that to happen I had to know of the possibilities, in case of an attack."

Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.

He had smelled us.


End file.
